Family of Strangers
by NatalieBlairPotter
Summary: After her mother's death, Lia searches for answers based off a note she found tucked away in her mother's belongings. But who does it lead to, and why does she get the feeling that her mother was hiding something big?
1. Breaking Down

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading my story. Anyway, I was hoping for this to be between 20 and 30 chapters. My OC is Lia Lunette Stringer and this is slightly AU, we're going to say that Charles is 36, but everyone else's ages are the same. Thanks again for reading.**

Lia's POV

I heard the nurse say, "Lia, I'm sorry, we did everything we could for your mother, but she didn't make it."

I knew this was going to happen, since the car crash, she hadn't been doing well. What did I expect, a miracle? No, things in life hadn't ever come that easy for me.

I'm different, some would call me special, others would call me a freak, but to most of the world, I'm just an outcast. My difference from society is I can do things I shouldn't be able to, I can move things with my mind and read people's thoughts to an extent.

Right now, I just changed from the social outcast, to the poor orphan girl. I had grown up with only my mom and me and we were happy like that. It always worked for us because we were honest. She told me at about 13 that I exist because of an affair she had, but she loved me just the same. I was shocked she had hid that from me, but I guess its for the better. Still, I wish she could have said 'I love you' one last time.

The nurse continued, "Is there any family you can call? After all, your 18, so Child Protective Services can't take you in."

I nearly spat out, 'No, I would've never known', but I knew she was just trying to be nice, so I kept it in.

I said, "Yes, umm, can I see here one last time?"

The nurse nodded and motioned for me to follow her. We went down a hall or two and I was trying to stay as detached as possible, I knew I was going to break down the moment I saw her anyway.

She lead me in the room and thank god they had turned off that lifeline machine. I'm pretty sure the never ending beep would've sent me off the deep end.

Then, I looked at her and broke. The tears I had been holding in for the past few weeks while she's been in this coma came spilling out. I wasn't known to cry, but what would you do if you're mother died? The tears burned a hot trail down my cheeks and began forming in a puddle around me.

I ran over to her body and held her hand that once held me, feed me, nurtured me, cared for me. It used to always be so warm compared to my freakishly cold hand, but now, they were like ice. Not a vein still pumping, she was like an ice sculpture. I rubbed my thumb over her hand, hoping this was all a bad dream, hoping she'd wake up or I would. Nothing, still as cold as ever.

One last time, I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. My heart relished in what little warmth was left there. I got up, never ceasing my crying, and looked that now her head had little watery streaks. I wiped them away then said, "I love you," for the last time to her body.

I quickly left the room and took my car home to the apartment. I got out, slammed the door and ran inside. I sat on my bed and cried my heart out.

I don't know how long I sat there, minutes, hours, days. Finally, I got up and ate something, I was starving, I hadn't eaten in a day or two. I went up to the mirror and looked at myself. My medium brown hair was in a deshelved braid, my once beautiful chocolate brown eyes looked lifeless and dull, not to mention the bags under my eyes.

I looked at my body and nearly gasped in shock. I was an average weight, not skinny, not fat, but I looked at myself and saw skin and bone. I hadn't been eating all that much before the last 2 days. I must've lost at least 10 pounds! I couldn't stand it, so I punched the mirror, not wanting to see the thing I had become.

My knuckles were bleeding, blood dripping on the tile. I noted never to punch something or someone again.

Still, I closed the bathroom door and took a very long shower.

Eventually, I got out in a towel and went to my room for some clothes. I decided that I would have to get a job or something if I wanted to keep this apartment.

Then again, did I really want another reminder of my mother to come home to.

I decided that I had to move. I also decided to sell all of my mom's things that were useless and not meaningful.

Another thing I decided was that I'm not up for the task today and should wait until tomorrow. So I went to bed and laid on it, knowing that ahead of me was another sleepless night.

**A/N: Well, I didn't expect it to be that short, but more coming soon!**


	2. Puzzle Pieces

**A/N: Okay, the only reason I ended the chapter was that I thought it was a good ending spot, so here's chapter 2!**

Lia's POV

I woke up groggy and tired, then it hit me, my mom had died yesterday.

I tried to hold it back, but more tears came pouring down. My feet felt like we were in the middle of a rainstorm. While I cried, I felt more useless and stupid then ever.

To get my mind away from her death, I busied myself with packing my stuff. I wasn't anywhere near ready to touch her room yet.

I gathered all my clothing and put the clothes I was keeping in a pile and the ones I was selling in another. The will reader hadn't called yet, so I was assuming I'm on my own.

I packed all of the 'keep' clothing in my bag then packed other things like books, jewelry, hygienic products, and little nick-knacks from around my room.

As I was shifting through the weird things on my wall, I noticed an old scrapbook. I thought, 'Funny, I don't remember that there.' I took it off the wall and opened it. A small note came out. The penmanship was excellent, no one I knew. The note read:

'Dear Vivian,

I'm missing you dearly now that I'm away in England. I'm sorry, but my mum and father paid for this college and I can't shy away from that. I'll be visiting you over fall break. I hope everything's going well and your family is getting used to me. School's going lovely if your wondering, my college professors all seem okay, except for Mr. Vilpod, he's simply vile. On a brighter note, I'm learning how to use my ability and I've managed to stop listening in on other people. Most of their thoughts aren't of much interest to me anyway. I must be going, class, write back soon.

With Love,

Charles X.'

I thought about this long and hard, it looked like a love note from this Charles guy to my mother. She said she never got serious with any man before me and I know she gave up everything, but her job after me. The one thing that really caught my eye though is his ability. It seems that he's a telepath, like me. Maybe, I can get to the bottom of this note.

I stopped thinking about that and focused my attention on packing more.

4 hours later and my room was just starting to look bare. I grabbed some money off the counter and headed over to Wang's Chinese Food.

I sat at my regular table and noticed Johnny was serving today. He came over and said, "The usual I'm guessing. Any take out for you're mom today?"

I had managed to take my mind off it, but the rush of emotions came over me, all I could do was shake my head and focus on not letting myself weep in public.

15 minutes later, Johnny came over with my wonton soup and house specialty chicken. I barely picked at my food.

I left a minute later, leaving the money on the table and wanting to get out of there quick.

When I managed my way home, I thought I was in for another bout of tears, but it seems I couldn't form any more of the salty water. It was awful, I dry-cried for 10 minutes before I forced myself back up to do something again.

I continued on my room and finally finished.

At that moment, I realized how little things I actually cared about. My giant duffel bag was half full, but my sell pile was huge.

The scrapbook was in-between each of the piles, I wasn't sure whether to keep it or not. On one hand, it was something interesting and a piece of my mom's past; on the other hand, it was a reminder of my mom.

After staring at it for a long time, I decided to stuff it into my duffel bag; I could always toss it later.

Exhausted after a long day of organizing, I fell on my bed. Somehow, I was exhausted, but not tired.

After sitting there for an hour without sleep, I decided to get up, eat an energy bar, and get working on my mom's room. After all, I was too physically tired to notice things.

I touched her doorknob and suddenly memories came flooding back. The time I had gotten a solo in chorus, the time she started dating someone and I was furious at her, the time I came home with a black eye because some bullies picked on me. The last one I saw was of her sitting on the floor doing a puzzle the day of the car crash. We hadn't finished the puzzle.

I entered the room and saw the puzzle on the floor, only half complete. I kicked it and smashed it to bits. I couldn't stand it.

I ran back to my room and fell on my bed, this time though, I was truly tired, and I fell asleep in an instant.

**Next Day**

I woke up and unlike yesterday, I remembered it all from the moment my eyes flung open. I told myself that I wasn't going to cry anymore, it showed weakness. I was going to finish looking through my mom's room for important things, grab a bite to eat, then never turn back.

Forget selling all the stuff, I'm sure we have enough money in the bank to keep me going until I get a job.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I picked it up and said, "Hello?"

The man on the other end said, "May I speak to Dahlia Lunette Stringer?"

I flinched at my full name, but said, "Speaking."

"Yes, I'm the will reader and was wondering if you could come to my office today at 11 A.M.?"

"Sure, where's your location?"

"6955 Teresa Way, Upper Richmond."

I grabbed a pen and paper, wrote down the address, and then said, "Okay, I'll be there."

"Goodbye Ms. Stringer."

Before I could say goodbye, he hung up.

I shrugged and went back to her room. I dug through her bureau and found a ton of clothing that is useless to me. I found a watch though and thought it could be useful in the future. I looked at the watch and it read 10:45. The near future.

I jumped up, slammed the door, grabbed my car keys, and was gone.

When I got there, I checked my watch and it read 11:05.

I muttered, "Shit. Oh well."

I parked and walked into the building. I asked the reception lady, "I'm looking for Mr… the will reader."

She pointed to the 2nd door on the right as she continued to take calls.

I entered the room and the man said, "Sit down Ms. Stringer."

I took a seat and said, "Umm sir, you never gave me your name."

He said, "Mr. Smith. Now, I assume you know Ms. Vivian Ariana Stringer is deceased?"

I nodded solemnly. He continued and said, "In her will, it gives you all of her possessions. Everything she owned and her bank account number."

I said, "I understand. So, what next?"

He shook his head and said, "That will be all, and here's a copy of her last will and testament. I hope this will be of use to you."

My mouth opened, I said, "Nothing at all?"

He said, "No, now if you'll excuse me, I have other clients to attend to, thank you, please leave."

I looked into his mind and saw he had no clients, he simply wanted me out.

I left rather abruptly and thought, 'Well that was nearly pointless; I knew she'd give me everything and I already knew the bank number. At least I have her will now.'

I decided that while I was out, I should collect everything. I made my way to the bank and took out our life savings, $200,000. I knew I probably shouldn't keep it with me, but what else could I do for now? I also took out everything in our safety deposit box including my birth certificate, passport, and other papers.

I drove back home and looked at all these documents. On my birth certificate, I noticed that the father space was seemingly, … erased? It looked like it had an a and an l in the first name, I couldn't decipher anything else. I couldn't help, but become suspicious about that.

Afterwards, I grabbed a quick snack from the fridge and swallowed it quickly. From there, I continued onto my mother's room.

After searching there from 12 until 6, I had found two things I wanted to keep, her sapphire necklace and a photo of her and some guy. I couldn't help, but imagine it was Charles. I find it incredibly odd that everything is coming up just now though.

Thoroughly exhausted again, I headed over to Wang's again. Just a day full of repeats, without the tears thank god.

I sat down at my usual spot once again and Johnny boy noticed me immediately. He said, "The usual?"

I nodded and said, "Change the water to a wine this time."

He looked a bit shocked, but left to take other, more joyful customers orders.

I played with my ring for a while until I saw two men walking up to me. One appeared to be in their mid thirties while the other looked from late twenties to early thirties. The younger one looked rather annoyed. Since they were coming toward me, rather intimidating too, I couldn't help, but delve into their minds.

I felt the nicer looking one rather cautiously and I knew I was noticed.

A confused expression came upon his face, but he came up and said, "Mind if we sit down?"

I carefully shook my head and continued looking. It seems he had many barriers up, but I could tell he was here for me, to get me to join something, help him.

I started delving into the other's mind when I was pushed out roughly.

The younger one whispered in the other one's ear, a little too loudly, "She's a telepath."

I looked at them and said, "How'd you know? No one before you two could feel me."

The older one laughed and said, "We're different too. I'm Charles Xavier, fellow telepath and this is my friend Erik Lensherr."

I nodded and said, "You're a telepath?"

He thought into my head, "Yes, can't you tell, I'm at the edges of your mind right now."

I said, "Get out! What do you want me to join?"

Erik said, "Never miss a thing, do you?"

I shook my head and repeated the question, "What do you want me to join?"

Charles said, "Well, Miss Stringer, we know that you aren't in the best of places right now and we want to help you out. Come with us, let us know more about your powers and help you with them. In return, we give you a home and food, there will also be other mutants there."

I said disgustedly, "Mutants, that's what you call us?"

He said, "Yes, it's the proper name, now we need to know, will you join?"

Erik said, "Don't think we're relying on you though."

I thought about it, I mean, where exactly was I going to go? What was I going to do? I didn't have anybody else jumping out of their way to help me, so I might as well take it.

I said, "I will, I'll be back here in 10 minutes with my things."

Charles nodded and said, "Excellent, we'll be here."

I whistled and said, "Johnny, make it a to-go."

Johnny nodded and kept whistling some weird tune. While I was walking home, I couldn't help, but find it was no mere coincidence that his name was Charles X. Maybe he was a link to me somehow. Might as well get my stuff anyway.

**A/N: A long chapter to make up for the short first chapter. I hope you like it and no I'm not trying to be mysterious about the relationship between Charles and her. By the way, this was in a time where you only had to be 18 to drink, so remember that. Thanks**


	3. Meeting the Gang

**A/N: Okay, bear with me, I forgot to tell you, I'm a newbie writer. So continue with the story.**

Lia's POV

Once I got home after a two or three minute walk, I checked around the house to make sure I wouldn't need anything else.

I was feeling rather lazy after working all day and running back and forth from Wang's, so I made my duffel bag come to me. I also got my favorite purse without moving and put the essentials in it. I grabbed my wallet off the counter and all the extra money we hid in the vase in the dining part of the kitchen.

I scanned over the house one last time and decided I didn't really need anything here anymore. That doesn't mean I wanted to leave though. Now that I was faced with a choice, I realized how many memories I'd be losing when I left this place.

For old times sake, I checked every room before I left. My room I just laughed at, there was nothing important to me in here. The kitchen and dining area was just there, though my mom and I have laughed a few times while eating those microwave meals. The TV looked old and used because it was, there was a small crack in it because once I had gotten very angry and, unknowingly, flung a vase across the room. That was when we had to buy the new one that I kept our money in. Considering our apartment was small, there was only one room left of importance, my mom's room.

Slowly, I opened the door and looked at the room, the bed was made as always, there were smashed puzzle bits on the floor, and I took one and stuffed it in my pocket. The window was almost closed so only a small shaft of light would fall through. Her shoes were all neatly lined under her bed. Her clothes in their drawers as they should be, yet even with everything just like it should be, it's not the same.

I floated her pillow toward me, picked it up, fell on the floor, and cried into it, hard. I couldn't take everything all at once. It was just too awful for me to comprehend. I roughly scratched at the pillow and I began to hear fabric ripping. At one point, another note dropped out. It only looked half finished.

'Dear Charles,

I'm glad that things are going well where you are. I know you'll do well in school and be out of there in no time. I can't wait to see you in the fall, but I really have been meaning to tell you something for a month or two now. I don't think I could've told you this any earlier, but I can't let you know any later. I'm pregnant. I don't know the gender yet, but I have a feeling it's a girl. If it is a girl, I want to name her Lia Lunette and if it's a boy, well, I'm hoping it's a girl. Of course, if you don't like the name, tell me, I'm sure we can compromise. I need you're help with this. Thank you for loving me Charles.

With Love,

Vivian S.'

I gasped, holy shit! Charles could be my father, he probably is my father!

It's all making sense now, the notes, the picture, but why did he erase his name off of the birth certificate? Was he unready for a child? Did he hate me that much? How old was he at the time? He can't be more then 35 years old. Holy shit!

I knew I had to get to know him better, after all, I had asked my mom about my father a few times and she had said he didn't want anything to do with us. I thought of what he would say now if he knew he was recruiting his daughter. Oh well, I need to find out.

I said aloud to myself, "I need to go back, they're probably wondering where I am." I looked in the mirror and was happy I had decided to put on make-up and waterproof make-up nonetheless. It made me look better and more mature.

I grabbed my duffel bag and realized how weird this would look, 'Oh well, they can deal with it.' I walked outside and down the block, then around the corner to Wang's.

When I came in, Charles looked as happy as every to see me, but Erik looked pissed off. It seemed to him that I wasn't coming and I had run off.

I walked over with my bag and saw my takeout order on the table and the check. It seems that Charles had already paid though.

I said, "Thanks, but you didn't have to pay, here, it's my food after all." I gave him 15 bucks.

He said, "No really, I couldn't take it. You're in tough spot right now, aren't you?"

I said, "Emotionally, but I'm perfectly fine money-wise, more then fine as a matter of fact. Since I don't know where we're going, could you put my money into a bank account around wherever we are going?"

He nodded and said, "Of course, now since we're paid, I think its best that we leave."

We all got up and left. We walked into the parking lot and made our way over to a beautiful Cadillac. I wasn't much of a car person, but I could tell this was a nice one.

Erik took my bag and stowed it in the trunk rather roughly. I sat in the back seat of the car, while they sat in the front. I thought, 'Wow, I can't believe I trust these two guys I met so much that I'm in a car with them. Just relax and don't think about it.'

We drove for about 5 minutes before Charles asked, "So you said, you're not okay emotionally, do you mind telling me?"

I sucked in a breath and decided to use this to my advantage in a way. I said, "No, I don't mind, my mother just died and I haven't been getting along well. Without Vivian, sorry mom, I don't know what to do."

I watched his reaction to me saying Vivian carefully; after all, he already knew my last name was Stringer.

He tried to keep his face, but his eyes bugged out a bit and his mouth opened a hair.

He couldn't help himself and said, "Your mother wouldn't happen to be Vivian Stringer, would she?"

I nodded and said, "You know her?"

He shook it off and said, "Oh, she's an old high school friend of mine. I just thought the name sounded a bit familiar. Shame to see such a nice woman go."

I nodded solemnly and thought, 'So he could very very possibly be my father. Hmm.'

After another 30 minutes, we arrived at a military base. Charles said, "I'm going to give you some time with the other mutants, we'll be back soon."

Some guard led me into a room with six people ranging between the ages of probably 18 and 35 or so.

The first person that came up to me was a very friendly looking blonde girl. She said, "Hi, I'm Raven. I'm glad that you're here. What's your name?"

I said, "Lia Stringer."

She nodded and said, "Great to meet you. The other girl is Angel, the oldest guy is Darwin, the red haired kid is Sean, and the one sulking in the back is Alex."

I nodded and Alex said, "I'm not sulking, merely bored with whatever you're saying."

She said, "But there's a new person!"

He said, "So?"

I said, "Well its great to meet you too. I just love how accepting you are." I gave a particularly sarcastic glare to Alex.

Sean said, "So how old are you?"

I said, "18."

He said, "I'm 19, are you into older men?"

I laughed and said, "Umm yeah, sure."

Angel came up and said, "So how'd you get here?"

I said, "Well, they found me like I'm pretty sure happened to all of you, but if you're wondering the real back story, my mom just died and I was going to move when they found me. What about you guys?"

Darwin said, "I was just a taxi driver with a low pay so I thought 'Why not?'"

Raven said, "I've known Charles ever since I was 5."

Angel said, "Well, I was kicked out of the house and I had to get money some way so I become an exotic dancer."

Alex said, under his breath, "Stripper."

I rolled my eyes and Sean said, "Well, I was trying to live on my own and they found me and I didn't have any better ideas."

Hank said, "I'm the scientist here."

I looked at Alex, "And you tough guy?"

He said, "Why should I tell you?"

I said, "You don't have to, but I thought it would be nice if we all knew something about each other."

He said, "I'm here, isn't that all that matters?"

I said, "Sorry, you don't have to act so much like an ass all the time."

He said, "You don't know me."

I said, heatedly, "You're right, because you won't let me."

"Why do you want to?"

"Because you seem nice enough under those layers of jerk."

"Oh and I'm sure you're miss perfect."

"No, but at least I'm nice to people."

"Get out of my face."

"Make me."

We glared at each other hard, neither of us daring to actually touch the other.

Raven said, "Oh would you stop it, you sound like an old arguing couple."

I glared at her and said, "Never in my life."

He said, "The feeling's mutual."

I walked away from him and tried to talk to everyone else.

Raven was extremely nice and I wanted to be her friend from the start. Angel seemed a little egotistic, but was funny and interesting to be around. Darwin just kind of watched over all of us because he's the older one. Sean seemed really nice, but a little desperate. Hank was shy, but sweet. Alex is just an ass.

Charles came in and said, "Off to bed everyone. Raven, would you show Lia to her room?"

Raven said, "Sure, your room is right next to mine."

I nodded and said, "Cool, I like talking to you."

She said, "Likewise."

We entered the hallway and there were four doors on the left, four doors on the right, and one at the end of the hall.

She said, "The first one on the right is Hank's, then Sean's then Alex's, then Darwin's. The door at the end of the hallway is Charles' and the doors on the right are Angel's, then mine, then yours, and the last one's the bathroom."

I nodded and said, "Okay, I think I got it, is it okay if we take a shower?"

She said, "Yeah, just be in bed by 10."

I said, "Kay, good night Raven."

She said, "Night Lia."

I went in my room and saw my duffel bag was there. I got out pajamas, and then headed over to the bathroom. In there, was a closet with a ton of towels, so I got out one.

After my shower, I realized I had forgotten my shorts. I wrapped my towel tightly around me, closed the bathroom door, and then walked to my room.

On my way back, I noticed Alex heading towards the bathroom in boxers and a light tank top. Even though he was a jerk to everyone, he was a very hot jerk. You could see his muscles. He said, "What are you doing in just a towel, trying to seduce me?"

I said, "In your dreams, no wait, not even there. I forgot my shorts genius."

He shrugged it off and walked back in his room, but said, "Hurry up, you're not the only person in this house!"

I walked in, changed, and brushed my hair quickly. I got out of the bathroom and looked at the ceiling as I became last in thought. Before I knew it, it was dawn and I finally fell asleep.

**A/N: So chapter 3, whoppee! Reviews are appreciated.**


	4. Trust

**A/N: Hey, I know, I'm writing like crazy! Special thanks to Valkyrie-Pleasant and LizziePixie-Aiko for reviewing, the reviews keep me going. Remember, more reviews = quicker updates. Thanks for reading.**

Lia's POV

At around nine, someone woke me up rather abruptly by pushing me off the bed. I took the sheets and my pillow down with me. I looked up to see a blondie smiling in my face.

She said, "Hurry up! Its breakfast time and Charles wants to talk to us all at 9:30."

I said, "What time is it?"

"Its about nine o'clock. Now get up or I'll have to call in reinforcements and I'm almost positive you don't want Sean screaming in your ear."

I thought about it and accidentally touched Raven's mind. She was thinking about how hilarious it would be if the kid who could break glass would scream in my ear.

I got out as soon as I noticed, but thought to myself, 'I didn't know Sean's power was extremely loud screaming. Now that I think about it, I don't know anyone's power.'

She was teasingly saying, "Oh Sean!"

I said, "I'm up, I'm up."

Still, freckle face came in and said, "What now Raven?"

She smiled smugly at me, "Nothing, false alarm."

I said, "Now, as much as I love your two's company, could you get out of my room?"

Raven rushed out, but Sean was a little more reluctant. "Are you sure you want me out?"

I said, "Are you sure you want me to punch you?"

His face fell and he left. I slapped on a pair of jean shorts and a flowy floral tank top. I quickly put on some chapstick and eyeliner. Just in case, I made the eyeliner waterproof. Of course, I did this all without using my hands because I was still too tired with only 3 hours of sleep.

I trudged down the stairs of the military base and turned a hall. I was hoping this was headed towards the kitchen. Just then, Sean and Alex whizzed past me, running because of who knows what. The answer came a second later when Angel was flying towards them with things written all over her arms and face. I felt sorry for her, at a camp I went to once, that had happened to me.

I followed them, assuming they were running into the kitchen. Luckily, I was right. When I came into the kitchen, I saw Hank eating cereal next to Raven who was talking animatedly to him. Darwin was downing some milk in the corner. Sean and Alex had just been caught and she did a number on them. Sean walked away with a nearly broken foot because of her stiletto that had just dug into it. Alex was a little too quick for her and managed to sidestep her. It looked like he had done this a little more often then most teenagers should. I wonder why he's so grumpy all the time and why he's overprotective of his past.

I unknowingly went in his head, but like Erik, was pushed out the moment he felt me. He glared at me and said, "What was that for?"

I said, "Sorry, I still can't control it, you understand, right?"

A dark look passed over his face and he said, "Yeah, just try not to do it again, okay?"

I said, "Yeah, are you okay?"

He was walking out of the kitchen and said, "Fine."

I worried a little about him; he had to be cold for a reason, right?

Angel said, "What'd you do?"

I blushed and mumbled, "Nothing."

She said, "Whatever, did I tell you guys about the time I-"

She was cut off by the rest of them yelling, "YES!"

She looked a little downhearted by this. Just then, Charles came in the room. He said, "Morning all, would one of you go get Alex?"

Sean volunteered and a few moments later, came back with Alex sulking behind him, wow, does he always have his pouty face on?

Charles gestured for us all to sit. He said, "Erik and I are going to leave at around 11 for something and we won't be back until late night, or early morning. We trust that you know the place well enough and know that guards are protecting you at every second. Still, for emergencies' sake, Darwin will be in charge. Is everyone clear?"

We all nodded or mumbled something unintelligible. He left quickly and I said, "So what food do we have?"

Hank said, "Cereal, apples, bananas, toaster waffles, milk, orange juice, apple juice, and water."

"Cool, someone mind telling me where the glasses, tap, waffles, and toaster are?"

Raven said, "Let me get it for you." She got up and went in the freezer to get the waffles, put them in the toaster, then poured a glass of water for me.

I smiled and said, "You didn't have to, but thanks."

Sean said, "So guys, tonight, how about we all meet in the window room next to the courtyard? Get to know each other better?"

I nodded and the rest of them agreed, even a very reluctant Alex.

I drank a sip of water when the waffles popped up. Unintentionally, I hovered the two pieces of grain toward me and plopped them in my hands.

Raven said, "So you're a telekinetic?"

I nodded and Alex gave me a rather confused look from the fact that I had already demonstrated my telepath powers to him. I ate the waffles and Sean said, "Don't you want syrup or butter with that or something?"

I shook my head, "Nope, I like my waffles plain, they taste much better that way."

Sean shrugged and started a conversation with Alex. Raven continued what she was saying to Hank and Darwin started talking to Angel about something or another.

I got bored and didn't feel like intruding on any of their conversations, so I went back the way I came to my room.

I took the scrapbook out from my belongings and started reading over it. The first few pictures were of mom as a child, then her slowly growing up to when she was about 16. I had never known what she looked like as a child and she was actually quite pretty.

The next picture of her was of one of her and some of her friends at the high school she went to. Then, there were so many pictures of her and Charles. At this point, I was absolutely sure that he was my dad. I had even started to notice some resemblances. Same bone structure, same medium brown hair, and same mutation.

There were pages upon pages of her and Charles, just her, her with her friends, even the rare occurrence of just Charles. The last picture was one you could tell my mother had taped in. It was of her holding me as a newborn in her arms. She wrote a caption under it that said 'Charles, wish you were here.' I let a tear or two spill at the horrible fight they must've had if she didn't want to even let him know I existed. The sad part was, I had no idea whose side to be on, my mother's; the person who had cared for me since I was born or Charles; the friendly man I now relied on.

I stopped myself from full out sobbing when the door slammed open. I threw the scrapbook in the air and slammed the door right back. Whoever's foot was in the doorway though.

It was Alex. I said rather rudely, without meaning to, "What do you want?"

He said, "And you're the one who called me an ass. Anyway, I wanted to know, are you a telepath or telekinetic?"

I said, "I'm both my mom was a telekinetic and my dad is a telepath."

He said, "You never mentioned your dad, who is he?"

I gulped and said, "I don't know."

"A second ago you said that your dad is a telepath."

"Its what my mom told me, he abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant. Okay?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"Why can't you be this nice around people all the time?"

"What are you talking about? I'm the nicest person I know."

Even though I knew he was being sarcastic, I laughed until my sides ached. He stared at me and said, "Yeah, I'll just leave now. See you later brain freak."

I yelled, "If I'm a freak, you don't belong in any society, even the freak show!"

He said, "That was an awful comeback you know."

I stuck my tongue out at him when I realized he couldn't see me. I felt stupid when I realized the scrapbook was open in my lap, well, halfway on my lap, the entire time he was here. I also realized it was stuck on the page I had left on. He could have read it!

I ran over to his room and yelled, "Did you read the scrapbook?"

He opened the door and said, "You mean the one in your lap, no, I didn't."

"Liar."

"I'm not a liar, I'd love to let you check, but I really don't want you in my head, so leave."

I looked into his eyes and while very lightly touching his mind, said, "Tell me the truth."

He sighed and said, "Yes, I did."

I knew he wasn't just trying to get me worked up. I said, "Don't tell anyone, okay? I'm known for giving people black eyes when they hurt me."

He said, "I won't, now leave."

I left and made my way back to my room. I got out a book and read.

At around noon, I grabbed a snack and brought it back to my room. I was halfway through the book and Alyssa was about to kill her beloved, George. I continued the reading the novel well until the afternoon when I finished at around five. I was a slow reader.

After staring at the wall for a few minutes, Raven came in and said, "Come on, its get to know everyone night, remember? By the way, I saw you and Alex earlier. Ooooohhhh."

I said, "I saw you flirting with Hank, ooooohhhh."

She turned bright red and I laughed, She dragged me by the hand to the game room and made me sit down on the couch next to her.

Once everyone was there, it was starting to get dark out in the courtyard. Raven said, "So I say we play a game of would you rather first."

Darwin and Hank looked confused, Darwin said, "What now?"

She said, "I ask you a question like would you rather die by burning or hypothermia?"

He said, "Well burning I guess, it's a bit quicker."

She said, "Exactly, that's how the game works."

Sean said, "I have one! Alex, would you rather drink acid or eat mud for a week?"

He said, "Mud, that was a stupid one."

Raven said, "Now you ask one."

He shook his head and she said, "Fine Mr. Grumpy pants, Lia, leather or spandex?"

I said, "What kind of a question is that?"

She said, "Just answer it."

I said, "Spandex I guess, I used to play volleyball and my booty shorts were fairly comfortable."

Sean said, "Booty shorts?"

I said, "Haven't you ever seen what volleyball players wear, a t-shirt, knee pads, elbow pads, and booty shorts, literally, they go right below your butt."

He started thinking when Angel knocked him in the back of the head.

I said, "Oh right, my turn, Angel, would you rather be separated from those you love willingly or by force?"

She said, "Force, that way I know they still love me."

I thought, 'Typical answer for an egomaniac.'

She said, "Okay, this goes to Raven and Lia. Sean, Alex, or Hank? Sorry Darwin, you're a little too old for us."

He laughed in understanding and I thought about it. Sean was a little young for me and a bit of a pervert. Alex was just my age and hot, but a jerk. Hank was a little old for me and Raven had practically called dibs over him.

Raven said, "Hank, definitely." She smiled at him and he blushed.

I said, "Well there goes that option. Umm, Alex I guess."

Angel raised one eyebrow and said, "Okay then."

Raven whispered in my ear, "Oh, someone has a crush!"

I shouted, "No I don't!"

The rest of them looked at us suspiciously. Raven said, "Okay, this is getting boring, so what's all of your powers?"

Alex said, "Yeah bozo, why don't you tell us what you can do with your big clown feet. All you need is a red nose."

I said, "Stop being such an asshole. Though Hank if you don't mind telling us, we won't make fun of you (I glared at Alex) and I'm interested."

He took of his shoes and started walking on the wall. His feet were large and looked like monkey feet, meaning to say he had feet hands. I said, "That's so cool! Darwin, what about you?"

He said, "Well I adapt to survive, watch this." He stuck his head in the fish tank ever so gracefully and grew gills. We all clapped and he got up and bowed.

Raven excitedly said, "We should give each other nicknames like all the CIA operatives have! What do you want yours to be Darwin?"

He said, "Well Darwin's already a nickname and it kind of make's sense."

Raven continued, "Hank, you have any ideas for yours?"

Alex said, "Bigfoot, it fits him."

I glared hard at Alex as I'm sure the rest of us did. Hank stopped walking on the wall and put his shoes back on in shame. I felt sorry for him, it seems like he was teased an awful lot.

Raven said, "Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet, and to be honest, yours are kind of small."

Everyone laughed and he fell back in his chair.

Raven continued, "I want to be called Mystique."

Sean said, "Damn, I wanted to be called Mystique."

Raven said, "Too late, I called it already." Suddenly, blue scales flew over her body, but you couldn't see them for more then a few seconds. We looked at her again and its like Sean had a clone. She said, "I think I'm a little more mysterious then you." The odd looking blue scales ran over her again, but then she was back to the blondie I know.

He said, "Fine then, I want to be called Banshee."

Hank raised his eyebrows and said, "Why on earth would you want to be named after a wailing spirit?"

Sean said, "Plug your ears." After he saw we had all to done so, he shrieked the loudest scream I have ever heard. It reverberated off the walls and eventually shattered the window looking out in to the courtyard into microscopic pieces.

We took our fingers out of our ears and looked at him in shock, but I'm pretty sure that my ears were bleeding.

We all nodded and Angel said, "The stage name's Angel, so I guess I'll keep it."

She took off her jacket and I noticed a tattoo of what looked like pixie wings across her shoulders and back. Suddenly, the ink came to life and she had real life wings. Considering the way her wings looked though, I found it funny her name isn't pixie. Then, she proceeded to hover over all of us and she said, "That's not all, watch."

We watched as she flew outside then spat acid onto the bronze statue of the man out there. It left a fair sized burn in his head that just went past his eyebrows. I was shocked.

I said, "Okay, well I don't know of a nickname, so yeah, but I'm a telepath and telekinetic." I said into their minds, 'Watch my lips, I'm not talking, am I?'

I then stopped and said, "Sean, look behind you."

He looked behind him and jumped, there was a scary mask floating there. I laughed.

Raven said, "We'll call you Charm, it's a bit far off, but can you manipulate people with your powers? If nothing else, we could say you charm them by putting a floating gun to their head, then they'll listen."

I flinched a bit at the thought and said, " I don't know, anyone willing to let me try?"

Raven was brave and wanted her nickname idea to work, so she said, "Sure, just don't make me do anything stupid and don't look at my personal memories, okay?"

I nodded and noticed how her voice was a bit rough when she said that, but then again, the mind is a personal matter. I then touched the edges of her mind, I dug deeper until I got to her core and said, 'Walk over to Hank and kiss him on the cheek.' I could tell by everything she had done and thought loudly, that she liked him a lot. I also had a suspicion that he was falling for her too.

She did that and I said, "Charm it is." Hank and her were bright red. I mouthed, 'You're welcome.'

It came to Alex and he said, "I'll show you, but you have to stand back."

He stepped out into the courtyard and we all watched him carefully with our heads peeking out of the wall. He yelled, "I said get back!" We slid back behind the wall

He was about to begin, but we peeked out again. He agitatedly said, "Whatever." Quite quickly, his body began circling and then flipped out red-hot rings of energy and the statue of the poor man was chopped in half, not to mention a few fair sized dents in the wall. We applauded and Raven said, "I say he's Havok." Everyone nodded in agreement.

I suddenly laughed when I realized what he does. I said, "So wait, you're power is sending red, lightning infused hula hoops off of your body that destroy things?"

He said, "They're not hula hoops."

Everyone else laughed with me though and then a thumping sound banged from outside. We looked, and an agent's body was lying on the grass. Suddenly, another body hit the ground outside. We continued watching, unable to pull ourselves away and realized it was yet another guard. More began to fall horrifyingly to their deaths until only 3 guards were left. Then, we saw a rather small, but menacing tornado spin across the yard and kill two. The last one was killed as a red devil man that had appeared out of nowhere stabbed him with his tail. I gripped onto Alex's arm, he was the closest one to me. I whispered to myself, 'Make it stop.'

The red man disappeared, then came back with a blonde woman and brunette man with him. A spanish man came from behind the wall. The brunette man said, "Hello, my name is Sebastian Shaw. We're not here to hurt you fellow mutants. My friends Azazeal and Riptide were merely making sure no one is watching us. Now, we are here to let you know that a revolution is coming and all of mankind will discover who we are and _what_ we can do." I looked in disgust at everything he did, just to get what he wants, it was awful.

He continued, "Quite soon, each of us will be forced to make a decision, be enslaved by humanity or rise above the rest." He carefully analyzed all of us, trying to find which one was the easiest to convince, his eyes rested on Angel just a little too long for my liking. "Its your choice, but know that if you are not with us, you are, by definition, against us. So stay and fight for the people you despise you, fear you, or join me and live like kings." His eyes passed over Raven, Angel, and I. "And queens." Sebastian opens out his hand asking us to come join.

All of us stood our ground, except Angel who takes his open hand and Shaw said, "Pleasure to have you on our side."

She looked at us as we all looked back at her, with a look of betrayal. She said, "We never belonged here and that is not something to be ashamed of."

Darwin gave Alex a look, then Alex shoved Darwin in the chest, he still continued to Shaw. I almost cried out for him to stop, Raven actually did gasp.

He said, "My power is to adapt to survive, so I guess I'm going with you."

The main man said, "Well put."

Suddenly, Darwin protected Angel by forming rock and crouching over her. He yelled, "ALEX, NOW!" The rest of us ducked as Alex let loose his energy. It came straight toward the brunette man, but he seemed to absorb it.

Sebastian said, "Bad choice." He lifted Darwin off of Angel and stuffed Alex's energy down his throat. Slowly, he turned to rock, then melted and exploded at the same time, then was reduced to dust. Raven started sobbing and I grabbed onto Alex's arm even tighter as I gasped. Sebastian Shaw, the new enemy said, "We must be off." All of them teleported out and Alex ran out of the room. We heard the door slam and I swear he was cussing himself out. I ran over to him, determined to make it better.

**A/N: Kind of sort of, not really cliffhanger. Oh and sorry if I messed up a little on the details, I don't have a perfect memory, but I do know I'm combining the learn your powers night and when Sebastian Shaw comes, sorry, I prefer it this way. Thanks for reading though.**


	5. Clothes for Lia

**A/N: Special thanks to alien.94 (Luna) for reviewing. Also, I need ideas for what's going to happen after the Cuban Missile Crisis, so think about it.**

Lia's POV

I ran down the hallways hoping that I would at least see him run around the corner once, when I ran into his room. He had smashed a hole in the wall with his fist. It was bleeding and bright red. He fell to the ground and I could tell just by looking at him, he wasn't too happy with himself.

I came over and didn't say a word, I just looked into his eyes. I could see pain, hurt, and a deep self-hatred. He looked back into my eyes, then looked away, as if he couldn't stand to look at me. I said, "Its okay Alex, its not your fault in any way, shape, or form."

He looked at me again and said, "No, its not okay, this has happened before. I let loose my power and then it kills someone." I sat there shocked for just a moment, but recovered very quickly. I put my hand on his arm gently and said, "Tell me, you need to vent."

He scanned my eyes, searching for even the slightest amount of distrust. I didn't look away, so he started, "Well, my mom and I had never been on the best of terms exactly. I tended to side a bit more with my dad. Then, one day, my mom started yelling at me and cussing me out because I had dropped a glass of water. I couldn't take it anymore, dad had told me I needed to let my anger out someway, so I did. I lost all of my control and accidentally killed them both."

I looked hard at him and said, "Don't you dare think a single thing was your fault. I lose control of my powers all the time and that's when I 'm trying not to. If you have only lost control once, that's amazing, and it's not your fault that your powers happen to be a little more destructive then most people. What you did tonight wasn't your fault either; A. You had been told to do that, B. You never knew that guys' powers and C. You never meant to hurt anyone you cared about, I know you, and you're too good of a person for that. You would never hurt anyone who wasn't hurting you in return. You're an amazing person Alex, and everyone needs to know that." I took his hand in mine and hovered over some bandages from the bathroom. I started bandaging it up carefully. He looked like he hadn't only cracked the skin, but I think he bruised the bone, maybe even sprained.

When it was done, we looked each other in the eye and he kissed me. I did nothing for a second or two, wondering what the hell just happened. Then, I kissed him back passionately, I admit, maybe I was starting to like him quite a bit.

Finally, we pulled back and I said, "I like you too."

He kissed me again, a little shorter this time and he said, "Thanks Lia, guess we both have each other's secrets now."

I held his hand in mine, "And a little something more."

I saw his first genuine smile, it was actually really pretty, he should show it more often.

His look went down again and said, "What do you think Charles and Erik are going to say about this?"

I said, "I'd rather not think about it. It could be really ba-"

"WHAT HAPPENED?" I think it was Erik's voice because, well, he was yelling his head off.

We both came down to the courtyard room to the rest of them being yelled at. Charles looked at us and said, "And where have you two been?" I imagined he'd get the wrong idea, because we just came in the room together and we both looked a bit disheveled.

I said, "Alex hurt his hand, so I was helping him bandage it up."

Charles nodded and said, "Now, what has happened?"

Raven was in tears, Sean looked too out of it to speak, Hank was sitting in the corner trying to comprehend this all, and Alex was back to sulking. I said, "Well, we were all having fun in here when bodies started falling. (I shuddered) Then we saw these two guys, Azazeal and Riptide I think, killing them. Then, this brunette man came with this blonde woman and he asked us to join him for his army thing. Angel joined and Darwin tried tricking them, but it back fired and (I started choking up) now… he's … dead."

Alex looked absolutely miserable again.

Charles was very shocked at the news. He quickly recovered and said, "Well it's a shame, but I want you all to get to bed. We have a lot of things to talk about in the morning."

None of us fought that and we went straight to our rooms. Not one of us mumbled a good night as we all slipped into our beds. I quickly changed from day to night and laid on the bed. Today I was truly tired though, so I fell sleep a few seconds after my head hit the pillow.

**Next Day**

I woke up to the sound of Charles quickly peeking his head in saying, "Get up Lia!"

It was like a bullet was shot while watching a silent movie. I once again, fell to the floor with a loud thump. I got up and put on some shorts and another tank top, but this was just striped. I decided against makeup today and left my room after brushing my teeth hastily.

As I came into the kitchen, I noticed a few more people still had to come, I wish Angel and Darwin would hurry u- Right, they're not with us anymore, glad I didn't say that out loud. So I was the last one, Raven had tear stains, even Sean's eyes looked watery, Hank was lost in thought, and Alex looked detached. Charles came in and said, "Last night was a tragedy, but there are effects you don't realize. The mutants had destroyed the place before they got to the courtyard. We can't let you guys live here anymore."

I said, "So where exactly do we go?"

He said, "I'm sorry, but we'll have to send you all to your respective homes."

Alex blurted out, "NO, I CAN'T GO BACK THERE!"

Charles said, "We understand you might be upset about this, but we don't know anywhere else to go."

I said, "Don't you have a home or something that can fit us? Please, we can't go back now."

Charles said, "But Darwin died last night, you aren't safe anymore."

Alex said, "Anymore? If that happened, we won't be safe going home either. There going to think you're sending us home anyway, doesn't that put us in more danger?"

Charles said, "Yes, but Darwin died."

Raven said, "All the more reason to stay, we saw what they can do and we want to help."

All of us nodded at her statement, trying to get Charles to let us stay.

He said, "Fine children, give me a moment."

He stalked off and Sean said, "Do you think they'll let us stay?"

I said, "I sure hope so, I'm actually starting to like all of you, even the more stubborn of you." I looked at Alex.

Hank said, "Why don't you just check?"

I said, "Because that would be intruding and I actually trust him thank you very much."

Hank said, "At any rate, he can't get rid of me and Raven. Sorry guys."

I said, "I'm sure that makes us all feel so much better Hank, thanks."

He said, "I'm just telling the truth."

I said, "We all already know that, but you don't need to say some things."

He looked guilty and Charles walked back in with Erik and some brunette lady behind him. He said, "Okay, we are going to let you all stay. Of course, while on the grounds', Erik and Moira will be your superiors and you have to listen to them also."

Raven and I hugged and screeched in joy. All three of the guys at once said, "Girls."

Sean asked, "So where exactly are we staying?"

Charles said, "At my mansion in upstate New York. We'll be taking a plane there in 4 hours. Hurry and be back down here as soon as possible with all of your belongings."

I ran back to my room and when I got inside, I realized that I didn't take out all that much, ergo, I didn't have to pack much. I put my brush and toothbrush in my purse along with a spare change of clothes, you never know when you can get lost. Yesterday's clothes, the day before's, my book, and the scrapbook were really the only things I had to pack after that. I decided to put on my mom's sapphire necklace in case the luggage was last. A last minute decision was to stuff the scrapbook in my giant purse. I guess I was more attached to it then I thought.

I made my way downstairs with my duffel bag and purse. Unfortunately, on the top stop, I stumbled over my feet and a few seconds later ended up in a very uncomfortable position at the bottom of the stairs. Trying to get out of the painful state, I twisted to the left, but that made it worse.

I heard laughing from the top of the stairs. I yelled out, "Help me!"

Raven came down a second later and got my duffel bag off my hip bone and then helped me up. She said, "Are you okay?"

I said, "Fine, but I feel like a human pretzel."

She laughed more and we continued to the kitchen. The guys looked like they had been there for a while, except for Hank who was still missing. It was reasonable considering he had been the scientist here for a while. His room was probably decorated.

Sean said, "What took you so long?"

I said, "I was packing my bag and purse. What took you so short?"

He said, "I didn't take out a lot of my stuff. Holy crap! How much do you have in that purse?"

"Not a lot, just the important things and a spare pair of clothes in case our luggage gets lost."

He tried looking in my purse, but I pushed him away. He said, "Why won't you let me look?"

I said, "Do you really want to see a hairbrush, toothbrush, and tampons?"

He said, "Oh sorry, I didn't know." He turned brick red and I laughed.

"How could you not know, I'm a girl, am I not?"

He blushed further and I let the subject drop. I went over and got a banana from the basket, while the rest of us stood in silence, "Sooo?" I said this with my mouth half full.

Raven said, "Sooo?"

To break the tension, Hank ran in a few seconds later with his things in a small bag. I noticed Raven's bag was a fancy black leather one, Sean's was a regular black suitcase, and Alex's was a military duffel.

Charles came in a few moments later. He said, "Well, since you're all ready, we might as well leave now."

I said, "Umm, don't planes leave at a certain time, not just when we want them to?"

He said, "Oh, did I say plane? I'm sorry, I meant private jet."

I said, "Woah! You have a private jet?"

He said, "Yes, now would you all follow me?"

We took up our luggage and went through a series of hallways and were sure that I couldn't remember the way back even if I wanted to. Finally, we came though a door into an airplane stable. He led us to the one that was on the runway. He said, "Now because there is no room for all our luggage, a small cargo plane will be following us shortly after we depart."

I nodded and handed my luggage over to a short black haired man. He said, "Your purse miss?"

I said, "I'll be keeping this on the flight, thank you." He nodded and continued to take everyone else's luggage, he's kind of like a bell hop boy, except for the military base.

Charles said, "Now, if you all would be so kind as to climb these stairs and find a seat in the jet, we will be departing in a half hour or so."

I climbed up the stairs and entered a very nice jet. There were seats of four facing each other, didn't know how well that was going to work. Without talking, we decided Sean and Alex would sit together, Raven and Hank would sit together and I'd switch between the two.

Charles poked his head in and said, "The flight will be about an hour, I'll be in the front with the other adults if you need us." He left and someone closed the doors.

I sat with the boys first and said, "So what do you want to do?"

Alex said, "Got any cards?"

I nodded and took them out. He said, "Do you both know how to play poker?" I nodded as did Sean.

"Sean, you pass them out. Lia, you find something to bet with."

I went over and checked the mini fridge. I found a whole assortment of snacks. I grabbed some chocolate, fruit, and candy. I said, "This good?"

They both nodded hungrily. I divided the goods as Sean dealt the cards. We each had 5 pieces of chocolate, 10 pieces of candy, and 20 grapes or blueberries.

I looked at my hand and put in one piece of candy. I had three 5's and two jack's, a full house.

Alex said, "I raise two candy." I put in another piece and Sean said, "I fold."

Alex and I looked at each other and mouthed, one, two, three. We both put our hands down and he had three 4's and two king's. I said, "Damn it, you just barely beat me."

He popped a jolly rancher in his mouth and said, "This is my game."

I rolled my eyes and looked to Raven and Hank. They were having a fairly good time on their own, so I decided to stay here. Suddenly, we felt the plane move, and we were taking off.

It was nearly an hour later and Alex had 14 pieces of chocolate, 23 pieces of candy, and 49 pieces of fruit. There were only 15 chocolates, 30 candies, and 60 pieces of fruit to begin with. I said, "I give up, you win, just let me have a chocolate!"

Sean had 1 piece and Alex had the rest of the chocolates, I had stupidly bet them when I had four ace's, but he had a straight flush!

He said, "Try again." Instead I went up to Sean and gave him the puppy dog eyes. I bent over just enough for him to see my … assets well and he handed it over immediately.

I smirked and said, "I don't need to ask you again." I popped the smooth milk chocolate in my mouth and savored it. Slowly, I noticed my ears popping and we all knew that we were going down. Alex stuffed the candies in his pocket. He said, "Whoever wants the fruit can have it."

I volunteered to eat some, but the rest we put back. Quickly, the chocolates were disappearing and being replace by the shell of it. By the time he was slowly eating the last chocolate to torture me, the plane had skidded to a halt back on the ground.

I stuffed the cards back into my purse and a few moments later, Charles came and opened the door of the plane. He said, "Welcome to my home." As we walked out, we saw a beautiful, enormous, mansion in the middle of green fields with a lake near by too. I couldn't help myself, the last time I had been in a pool was 6 years ago. I ran over to the lake and jumped in with my shoes on and everything. Everyone laughed and I happily paddled across the lake. Charles yelled out, "Okay, I'll show you your rooms later, but for now, dinner is at 6 in the main hall. Oh and one tiny thing. The cargo plane got a tad lost, so you might not have your clothes until tomorrow." He left and the rest of the gang came near the lake. I was splashing about, enjoying the midsummer sun. Raven jumped in with me and she pulled Hank with her. Sean and Alex stayed on the banks.

I swam and relaxed and listened to the others talk.

A little bit later, I decided I wanted to get out. I slowly made my way out and realized I didn't have a towel. I said, "Anyone have a towel they're willing to give me?" No one said anything.

I said, "Well, I need to ring my clothes out." I took off my shoes and socks. I took off my shirt and was left in my bra and shorts. Sean wolf whistled. I said, "What, it's just like a bikini, only not meant for water, I don't see what's so bad about it."

I was happy I picked my blue and white polka dotted bra this morning. I said, "Though it is kind of chilly, if one of you has a jacket you're willing to loan me…"

Alex took of his and said, "Here, I'd do anything not to see you shirtless."

I scoffed, "Meanie!"

He said, "You're acting like your four."

I said, "And you're acting like a jerk again."

He rolled his eyes and I rung out my shirt. I put my hair in a ponytail. After being in it for a few seconds, I had to admit that his jacket was very comfortable, even if it was very loose on me.

Hank and Raven got out a few minutes later. They decided to stay soaking wet. I collected my shirt, socks, shoes, and purse and headed towards the entrance to the building. Charles was bustling around the house and I asked, "Where's our rooms?"

He stopped and said, "Oh right, up the stairs is a hallway with about 10 guest rooms and 2 bathrooms. Pick whichever you'd like."

I ran up the stairs wanting first pick. I flung all the doors open with my brain thingy and quickly decided on the room colored baby blue facing the lake and forest behind it."

I grabbed my change of clothes and went to the bathroom, glad I have these. I changed quickly into my clothes and tried ringing out my hair more.

I went out of the hallway with my new clothes and saw that Raven had picked the baby pink room next to mine, Alex was adjacent, Sean next to his, and Hank next to Sean. I came out and said, "The bathroom on our side is for us, the bathroom on your side is for you? Kay?"

They all yelled back, "Okay."

I went back into my room and picked up Alex's jacket off the bed. I went back out and entered his room. I threw his jacket to him and left.

I checked my purse and found my watch. I looked at the time and it was about 5:30.

I decided to explore the house. I went down the hallway of our rooms and found myself in a hallway of more rooms, I entered the first on the right, which led to another room on the right. In this room were a fire place, television, and couch.

I took a few more rights, a left or two, went down some stairs, and found myself in the dining room somehow. Everybody else was there.

Charles motioned for us all to sit and the meal was on the table. I sat next to Raven.

Nothing all that eventful happened, it was actually kind of awkward with no one talking.

Once dinner was finished, I let Raven guide me to our rooms the simple way and I went into my room. Once again, I dug through my purse, but couldn't find any sleeping clothes. I went over to Raven's room and knocked on her door. I asked, "Do you have any extra night clothes?"

She said, "Sorry, I only brought enough for tomorrow's outfit and pajamas."

I nodded and continued on to my room. I thought for a second, then went into Alex's room. I knew what he slept in and even if he was changing. No clothing past his boxers and a man tank top would come off. I asked, "Do you have a shirt I can borrow?"

He eyed me suspiciously, I said, "I forgot to bring pajamas and normally I sleep in a big t-shirt and shorts anyway, so I was wondering if you had a shirt?"

He threw his shirt he wore today at me. "I want it back by morning." I nodded and said, "Thanks Alex."

I went back to my room and changed into just his shirt. I didn't have any shorts to wear sadly. Oh well.

I stared at the ceiling for a bit, until I closed my eyes and fell asleep a few minutes later.

**A/N: So because I have been writing so quickly, I wouldn't expect too much tomorrow. 1-2 per day is a lot, so sorry, but don't expect that all the time. Thanks for reading. : D**


	6. Blood Relations

**A/N: A special special thanks to LizziePixie-Aiko who continues to review and FutureOlympian for an awesome review, you both get a cookie. Oh and Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the X-Men franchise, I only own Lia, Vivian, and half of the plot. So chapter 6!**

Lia's POV

Snug and warm, my head slowly came off the pillow. I had been curled in a ball for sometime now, half asleep, half awake. My pajamas were so warm, what was I wearing? I looked down and blushed at thinking that it was Alex's shirt. I got up and looked at myself in the mirror, it went down to mid thigh on me.

My hair was a mess as usual, so I got out my hairbrush from my purse and brushed it. I got my toothbrush and toothpaste, then headed over to the bathroom.

I noticed Raven was already in there, brushing her teeth like I was about to do. I wet my toothbrush then put toothpaste on it and began to cleanse my teeth.

After we were both done. She looked at me and said, "And what exactly did you do last night?"

I said, "I slept, what else shou- Raven! You know I'm not like that, I had no pjs so he gave me his shirt, end of story."

She winked at me and said, "Sure, I'm positive that's all you did. If I were you though, I'd get out of that before Sean has the chance to make fun of you."

I nodded and said, "Good idea, our stuff here yet?"

She said, "Yeah, its right outside all of our doors."

I felt rather stupid, so I went up to my door and saw that in my early morning grogginess, I had completely ignored the duffel bag outside of my room.

I picked up the handle and dragged it into my room. I got on a short sleeved t-shirt and some shorts, then grabbed Alex's shirt and left the room.

For the umpteenth time, I opened his door and went into his room. I was about to hand over his shirt, when I saw him tossing and turning on his bed. His face was covered in sweat and he looked to be really disturbed. I listened closely and he was saying, "No, not her, no I didn't mean to, not Darwin no."

I felt a pang of pity and decided to wake him up from his nightmare. I grabbed a hold of his arms, rather roughly, and shook him awake.

His eyes shot open and said, "What are you here for?"

I said, "You asked for your shirt back in the morning, but I can tell someone's not a morning person."

"And when did you figure that out genius? Now, leave."

I threw his shirt at his face and left. So even though he was acting fine yesterday, he clearly wasn't. I noticed Sean coming out of his room and said, "Oh, I see, so that's what the banging sounds were last night."

I went up to him and smacked him in the back of the head hard. I said, "As if."

I walked to Raven's room and knocked on her door. She said, "Who is it?"

I said, "Your bestest friend forever and ever."

She laughed a bit and said, "Come in."

I walked in and said, "Hey, do you wanna come down to breakfast with me?"

She finished putting on her shirt and said, "Sure, I'm starving."

We walked down together to the kitchen and got there then both grabbed some cereal and milk. We saw Charles come in and say, "Lovely, you two are here at least, we'll be starting training soon. Would one of you be so kind as to get the rest of the boys?"

I nodded and got up to get them. I figured that Raven and Charles would want to talk because they haven't been able to lately. I ran down the hallway, up the stairs, and to the landing where our rooms are. I opened all their doors with my head and yelled, "HURRY UP! CHARLES WANTS YOU DOWNSTAIRS FOR TRAINING!"

Alex grumbled something and Sean said, "I could have been changing you know."

I said, "Did you think I looked in any of your rooms, because believe me, I didn't."

After a minute of two, all of them came out and Hank said, "Why'd you wait here?"

I said, "Because I've got nothing better to do so come on." I walked back down the stairs, came in the kitchen and said, "Voila."

Three tired looking boys came in and sat down around the counter in the kitchen.

Charles said, "Okay, today I'm training Lia in the morning and Alex in the afternoon. The rest of you will be doing basic exercises for the rest of the day. Fairly simple, right?"

We all nodded and I said, "So when does training start exactly?"

He said, "Well, on every morning except this one, I expect you all to be ready at 6:30, but today, you have 15 minutes to eat. For the rest of you, Erik will instruct you what to do, but you'll all be wearing a tracksuit. Lia, I'll show you where we're going to train soon."

I nodded and Sean said, "And where are the tracksuits?"

Charles said, "In the box in the corner of this room." We all looked over and saw a large box.

I went up to it and noticed that Charles was leaving. I looked into it and saw 3 sweatshirts, 2 white tank tops, and 5 sweatpants. I looked at the sizes and there were 2 sizes, medium, and small. I picked up my tank top and pants then put them near where I was sitting.

Hank asked, "Why'd you get your outfit now?"

I said, "I don't know, I wanted to? Anyway, you guys are stuck wearing sweatshirts, haha."

Sean said, "Honestly, I'd rather be wearing a sweatshirt then a tank top."

"Really, you could have fooled me."

"Haha, that's so funny Lia."

"I know, I'm hilarious."

I picked up my cereal and finished eating it, then grabbed a glass of water. I said, "So what do you think you guys will be doing?"

Raven said, "You guys? You have to do it too."

I said, "Yes, but not immediately."

Hank said, "I'm guessing basic stuff, weights, running, different aerobic things."

I said, "Crap, I'm doomed then."

Hank said, "Why?"

I said, "I can't lift a 10 pound weight for more then like 2 minutes, I am the definition of weak for arm muscle."

Raven said, "Oh, I'm sure you're stronger then that."

I said, "Not exaggerating a bit here, but what do you think we'll all be doing individually?"

Hank said, "Controlling our powers."

I said, "I mean specifically."

Raven said, "With Charles, you never know."

I nodded and Sean said, "I can't believe he's making us wear these tracksuits."

Raven said, "Oh its not that bad, for all we know, it could've been bright yellow jumpsuits."

I finished my glass of water and walked over to Alex. I said, "You okay, you haven't been talking a lot?"

He said, "I'm fine, you worry too much." His usual cockiness wasn't in it though.

I walked off to the nearest bathroom to change. I was just beginning to take in the grandeur of the house, right down to the bathroom. This one was an olive green with gold accents and warm browns here and there. It was amazing to be in such a nice place. At any rate, I took off my shorts and top, then put on the sweatpants and tank top.

I came back out and noticed that only Hank and Sean were still in the kitchen. I said, "Hey guys."

Sean said, "Considering you're a girl and all, that didn't take long."

I rolled my eyes at him and then Charles came in. He said, "Lia, follow me."

I walked behind him and we were led to an office, his office I'm guessing. It had books all around the room, a large oak desk, high-backed chair behind it, and a large window covering almost the entire wall looking out onto the hills and a portion of the lake.

He said, "For you're training I want to start out with the most important thing, protecting yourself from other telepaths. This, unlike what you believe, is more important then controlling it because if a telepath decides to get in your head and you can't stop them, then they can know everything that is going on here. Now, I'm going to try to get in your head and I want you to push me out as best as you can."

I nodded and then thought nervously, "Will you see any of my memories?"

He said, "I'm not going to try to, but if it's prominent in your mind I might."

I nodded and tried desperately to think of anything else, but him being my father. Instead I thought of the other huge thing I've been focusing on a bit lately, whatever Alex and I have. He probably already knows about it anyway.

He said, "Are you ready?" I gathered myself for a moment, then nodded.

I tried focusing on Alex, but I felt him in my head and that took precedence. I tried with all my might to push him out, but it hardly did a thing. He continued to press, not any harder and I fought back trying to focus on getting him out. Suddenly, he stopped.

He looked up at me and said, "For a first attempt that was good, but you need to try harder."

I felt sweat nearly beading down my head and said, "I tried as hard as I could, but you wouldn't leave."

He said, "Ahh… therein lies the problem, you were trying to get me out, not build up barriers. Lia, because I am a very experienced telepath, I'm going to win over you, but if you focus on building up your mind, the barriers might be enough to push me out, do you understand?"

I nodded and said, "I think, can I have water?"

He said, "No, I don't mean to be harsh, but if we're in battle, you won't have time to get a glass of water. Ready?"

I nodded and felt him in my head again. This time, I tried to ignore how far he was getting, I tried to ignore all the memories he was skimming over, and I focused on building up a barrier around my core. Then, I blocked off the next layer of my most personal memories. It was starting to work when I saw the memory he was looking over and dropped all the barriers. I tried pushing him out with my sudden adrenaline and it worked surprisingly.

He looked at me in utter shock, I couldn't tell if it was because of what he saw, or that it had actually worked.

At first he said, "Well Lia, you never cease to shock me. Why hadn't you told me of this before?"

I looked down in guilt and said, "Well, I just figured it out a little while ago myself."

I then thought, I shouldn't feel guilty, according to mom, he left us.

He said, "So you thought it wouldn't be important to tell me that I'm your father?" He had raised his voice at the end and I had gotten to know Charles, he _never_ raised his voice. Needless to say, I flinched.

I said, "My mom told me that you said that you never wanted a thing to do with us."

He said, "Well I'm sorry to tell you this Dahlia, but I never knew I had a daughter."

I said, "Wait… you never knew? I… I thought she had told you."

He said, "No, after I went to college in Britain, I wrote to her and she never wrote back, when I came to her for fall break, she wasn't there."

I said, "Oh well… hi dad."

He said, "Hello … daughter." I went up to him and hugged him. I wouldn't let myself cry.

He said, "Wow, I never knew I had a daughter. I guess I have to watch out for you even more now. And about Alex…"

He trailed off and I laughed a bit, "So you saw that too?"

He nodded and said, "I'll give you the rest of the morning off, I need some time to process this myself. Tell Alex he should be ready for training by 1."

I nodded and said, "By the way, could you let me tell them on my own time? Alex already knows, I think, but I want to tell Raven, Sean, and Hank when I feel ready."

He nodded and I left the room. I headed back the way we came and ended up in the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it up with some water. I looked at the clock and it said 11, which means lunch probably starts at 12. I sat on the couch for a bit and thought this out. It was all so confusing that it just suddenly came out, but now I know that my powers are fueled by my emotions.

I kept thinking this over and thinking how I was going to tell them. Raven I wanted to tell immediately, but I had no idea how I would tell Sean or Hank.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the four of them came in looking rather exhausted. They were all covered in sweat, except Raven, girls don't sweat, we glisten.<p>

I came up to them and smiled. I said, "Looks like you guys had it easy, hmm?"

Alex looked at me and said, "Don't even."

I laughed and said, "By the way, Charles wants you to be ready by 1, just to let you know. So what did you guys do?"

Raven said, "I ran, then stretched, then did some tai chi, then had to box with Hank."

I said, "Sounds fun and you three?"

Sean said, "Lots of running, then stretching, then weights, then swimming, then boxing."

Hank said, "Running, then stretching, then running, then boxing."

Alex said, "Running, I refused to stretch, then weights, then boxing."

I said, "By the way, who ever I have to box, go easy on me."

Sean said, "I promise nothing." I rolled my eyes, then said, "So I'm going to be all glistening too?"

Sean snorted and Alex said, "Glistening?"

I said, "Girls don't sweat, we glisten, got it?"

He rolled his eyes and I said, "Oh just start eating all ready."

Hank said, "How long have you been here?"

I said, "The past hour, Charles and I hit a … breakthrough this morning so he gave me the rest of the morning off."

Hank, who was always interested in science, said, "What kind of a breakthrough?"

I said, "I can now get telepath's out of my head." Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

He nodded interestedly. I said, "By the way, Alex, my mutation is a head thing and I was still getting really worked up, you are going to be sweating like a dog."

He said, "Thanks for the encouragement."

I nodded and Sean said, "I'm starving, what do we have?"

Raven said, "Look in the fridge." He got out bread, turkey, lettuce, mustard, and mayonnaise. So we were having turkey sandwiches. We all ate in silence as we were starving. We finished in about 30 minutes because of various snacks and I was a slow eater.

I looked at the clock and said, "We have 15 minutes left, what do you want to do?"

Raven said, "Sleep, its exhausting out there." I rolled my eyes, but the rest of them went down the hallway and plopped down on the couch.

They turned on the TV and I gave in. I sat on the chair while we watched some boring nature documentary.

Not too much later, Erik came in the room and said, "Wake up! It's training!" Everyone, save for Alex, got up and groaned. He was smirking as we walked out.

We got outside and Erik said, "Okay, we are going to do battling. I mean full out, Raven and Hank are first up."

Sean and I sat back and were ready for a laugh fest. He said, "One rule, once one person is bleeding or can't get up, it's over. You two ready?" Before they had the chance to answer, he said, "Begin!"

This was funny, because both of them refused to punch each other. He said, "Okay, let's try something different since you won't willingly punch each other. Sean, Lia, get up here."

Those two left front and center while we walked forward. He said, "Now, whoever wins gets the rest of the afternoon off. If that isn't enough to entice you, once we do this once, we won't have to do this again, but if you refuse, we'll be doing this everyday."

Sean and I looked at each other and a look of understanding passed, whatever happens, we wouldn't blame this on the other one. I put both my fists up as did he and Erik said, "Begin!"

Sean, being the guy, threw the first punch, I ducked and punched back. It just grazed his nose, so I tried kicking his face, but it hit his stomach. He was a little taken aback so he tried punching me blindly and it hit me. I had a new found rage and kicked him where I probably shouldn't have. He immediately fell to the ground and couldn't get up. He whispered something that I could just make out. He said, "I don't think I'll be able to have kids." I laughed and said, "I think I win, can we not do this again?"

Erik nodded and I could tell even he was holding back laughter. He said, "Okay, now 2 laps around the mansion, jogging. Go."

Everyone, but Sean got up and started jogging. Raven said, "Damn, you must kick hard."

I laughed, but got out of breath soon, so we both stopped talking. Hank was just ahead of us.

2 laps later, we came over, a little short of breath and Sean was just getting up. Erik said, "Raven and Lia, you're doing tai chi, Hank and Sean, come with me."

4 hours later and we were completely beat. We came in the room and rested on the couch. A few seconds later we saw Alex come in nearly dripping in sweat. He might've already had this earlier, but he ripped the sleeves off of his sweatshirt. Quite a nice accent from my position.

Raven whispered in my ear, "Staring is rude you know."

She laughed to herself and I playfully pushed her. None of us talked much, but the rest of them left the room, Raven and Sean were getting a game and Hank had to go test our blood samples. I asked Alex, "So how'd training go?

He said, roughly, "I'll never learn to control it, I lit the entire basement on fire."

I said, "Relax, it just takes time. You can't let it control you everyday, just try not to think about it."

He muttered, "Easier said then done."

I said, "By the way, Charles knows he's my dad now."

Alex looked surprised and said, "You told him?"

I nodded and he did too. A moment later, Raven and Sean came in the room each with a game in hand. They fought over which one to play and eventually we agreed on Trivial Pursuit. Around 2 hours later, Charles called us all in for dinner and we ate.

Once again, nothing eventful happened and we went up to our rooms. I grabbed my clothes quickly and ran to the bathroom. I was determined to get first showers.

Luckily, I did and once I was done I brushed my hair and teeth, then wandered back to my room.

I got out my scrapbook and looked over it again, funny how you can see things in a different light.

I put it down and crawled up to bed. I got under the covers and fell asleep after thinking if Alex really was okay and how it was going to be to have a dad.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to post, but the only reason I posted was because I got another review! So if you enjoy my writing, review! Yay, so thanks for reading.**


	7. Fire and Water

**A/N: Hey, sorry its taken soo long, I have had insanely much to do, but review and I promise, they will come out faster! Thanks once again to FutureOlympian for reviewing. On to the story.**

Lia's POV

I woke up to the sound of a bullhorn going across the house. Then, Charles was in my head and said, "Wake up, training begins in five minutes."

The thought of having no breakfast got me up. I hurriedly put on my tank top, sweats, and sneakers. I ran down the stairs and grabbed a banana. I noticed Hank was downstairs eating cereal rather calmly. 'Of course he would wake up early.'

Charles came into the room just as Raven, Alex, and Sean were racing down the stairs. Charles calmly said, "Morning all, today I'll be training Sean in the morning and the afternoon you have off, enjoy it."

I pumped my fist in and Charles said, "Okay, now the rest of you go outside, you're going to start the morning off with some stretches." We walked outside and saw Erik, he said, "Okay, basic stretches follow me. Alex, do it, or go into the splits right now."

He grimaced at the thought and of that, so he joined us.

After a few minutes of toe touches, one-legged balances, and attempting to touch our toes to our head, Erik said, "Okay, Charles has decided that we will be working on your weaknesses. You'll be helping train each other, the best with the worst and vice versa."

Raven said, "Okay, so could you tell us who's doing what?"

Erik said, "I was getting to that. Alex, you're helping Lia with weights, Lia, you're helping Alex with flexibility. Raven, you're helping Hank with boxing, and Hank, you're helping Raven with swimming. I'll be checking in on you all periodically."

I asked, "So who's doing what first?"

Erik said, "Lia and Alex, weights, Hank and Raven, boxing, go."

Alex began walking over to the weight room, so I followed him. I saw Hank and Raven began getting ready as Erik was getting the gloves.

We made it into the weights room, which suprisingly had a door going straight from the "backyard" into it.

I looked at him curiously, wondering what he would make me do. I accidentally touched his mind and he said, "I would really appreciate it if you would stop doing that."

I nodded guiltily and said, "Sorry, so, what am I doing?'"

He pointed to a pair of five pound weights. I said, "I'm not that weak."

He said, "Oh just pick it up." So I picked them up. He continued, "Now, start with your hands at your side, then extend fully out, then back in."

I did this and thought, 'Wow, easiest thing in the world.' I said, "So how long do I do this?"

He said, "I'll tell you when, don't worry about it."

"Unfair, what will you be doing in the mean time anyway?"

"Oh, watching, I don't think this will take that long anyway."

I glared at him, but continued, after about a minute, my arms were getting really tired, really fast. I continued, trying not to let him see my struggle. After what seemed like forever, my arms were shaking and it took like 10 seconds to go up. He came over and said, "Not hard? Surely you're fine right? Your arms must be shaking because of how easy it is."

I said, "Stop it with the sarcasm, tell me to stop, or help me for god's sake!"

"Fiesty." Even with that, his hands wrapped over mine lightly and helped me just enough to make it up. After one more minute like this, not only was my face probably bright red, my hands sweaty, and my arm not doing any of the work, but we stopped. He said, "Okay, now were going to work on the rest of your arm, wait flex." I did as I was told and flexed. He felt it and said, "Well, you have more strength then a fly."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes. Anyway, he pointed to this weight thingy and I sat on it. I assumed you were supposed to grab the arm things right in front of the seat, so I did. I tried moving it a number of ways and soon found out it went to the side, then back. "So, how long do I have to do this?" I heard clanking behind me and looked back.

He was setting the weight at 30. I said, "How long?" He said, "We'll see, maybe until I'm done." He sat in the thing across from me and went to work. I could clearly see the outline of his muscles as he flexed. At one point, he said, "Stop adoring me and get to work." I said, "Like I even would." Still, I started doing the arm thingy.

After 1 minute or so, I was getting bored so I added more to the weights and it was now 50. After 2 reps, I was exhausted.

I got up, then began lying on the floor and said, "Can we stop now?" He looked down and said, "One more thing."

I groaned and got up, we came over to what seemed to be a table, but around here, you never know.

He gestured for me to sit as did he. I said, "What in the world are we doing?" He said, "Stick your arm out with your hand open." I did so and his hand quickly took up mine.

I suddenly realized what we were doing. I said, "Oh you are so on." We mouthed 1, 2, 3, then began the struggle. He immeadiateley had my hand on the table.

I said, "Go easier on me! 2 out of 3?" He nodded and said, "1, 2, 3, go!" We began and I held up a pretty good fight, for a second or two. Once again, my hand banged rather roughly on the table.

I said, "Once more?" He nodded and we mouthed 1, 2, 3 again. The fight began and my hand was leaning, but I had a sudden rush of adrenaline. I made his hand lean toward the table, when he pushed back with much more force and my hand slammed on to the table. I nearly fell over from the power.

I looked at him with puppy dog eyes and said, "You hurt me! Fix it make it better!"

He rolled his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but get over it." I said in a child-like voice, "Meanie."

He took my hand and kissed it then said, sarcastically, "Better?"

I laughed and said, "Much." Then bent over the table and kissed him. I ended it quickly and said, "What exactly do we have?"

He looked at me nervously and said, "I don't really know, but whatever it is, I like it."

I said, "Okay, so are we… together?" He leaned over and kissed me, just then, Erik came in.

He said, "Break it up, you're supposed to be doing weights. I was going to tell you we're switching anyway. Now, hurry over to the dance room."

We both got up and I whispered in his ear, "Can I take that as a yes?" He looked at me and laughed. I assumed it was yes.

We came to the dance room and said, "In here?" He gave me a suspicious look. I grabbed two yoga mats while nodding. I put them down about a foot and a half away from each other. I got up and said, "First, we have to stretch again." He scoffed and I said, "Do it or else face the wrath of me."

He laughed, but did what I did. After 10 solid minutes, we got on the mats.

I said, "Now, try the downward facing dog."

"The what?"

"Just do what I do." We continued with several other yoga poses. After an hour or so I think he was ready to be pushed to the limit.

I said, "Put your leg on the bar." He did so and looked uncomfortable. I took his leg and said, "Stay straight or else, but this might hurt a bit."

He said, "I'm pretty sure I can handle it." I shrugged my shoulders and started pushing up. Inch by inch his leg was as high as it would go without breaking something. He was gritting his teeth. I pushed it up a hair more, trying to get as much out of it that I could when I heard a slight crack.

He grit his teeth and looked at me furiously. I said, "Sorry, but now, you'll be more flexible. Practice over for today." As I tried to walk away he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the floor. I looked up at him apprehensiously and said, "What?"

He said, "Do something about it."

"What do you want me to do? I'm sorry, but I can't."

He thought of something and said, "Well then I'm going to push you too." He tackled me and pinned me down. He said, "Try and get up, we're not going anywhere until you get up." I struggled hard and thought of kicking him. I noticed, his feet had pinned mine though.

I looked for weak points, but couldn't find any. I did what any sensible girl would and kissed him again. He was surprised enough to release my hands. Luckily, I'm smart and knew I still wouldn't be quite able to get up. I ran my hands through his hair and he took a hold of my waist with his hands. I tried moving my legs to get more comfortable and he allowed it. Soon enough, we were full on making out when I got up and left.

Well, he did say all I had to do was get up, he never said how either. I went into the kitchen and saw the three of them standing there. I said, "Hey guys, how'd training go for you?"

Hank instinctively rubbed his rib cage, Raven eyed him guiltily, and Sean said, "Fine, we found out I can break glass. Big surprise there, right?" I laughed a bit when Alex stalked into the room.

He glared at me and I said, "All you said was to try and get up, I found a way you didn't predict. Ha!"

He stalked off and I said, "Is it just me, or is he more moody then a pregnant woman?"

They laughed and agreed. Lunch went by pretty quickly and I didn't know what to do afterwards. It was an afternoon off.

Raven grabbed my hand once she was finished with her sandwich and rushed me up to her room. She said, "Girls night in!" Quickly, she pushed me onto the bed and ran into her closet.

A few seconds later, she came back in with arms full of nail polish, magazines, hair accessories, face mask supplies, and something that was shiny. She said, "I always wanted to have one of these when I was little. So let's start with nails. I think a bright red would look amazing on you, unless you want to go more low-key. In which case, I think a dark mauve."

I looked at my nails as if in deep thought and said, "Red, definitely."

She said, "Okay, here's the part where I do your nails and you start saying everything that comes to mind. By the way, why was Alex so pissed off?"

I laughed to myself and started, "Well you know how training was supposed to go, well, I was doing one last flexibility thing before lunch. I pushed his leg up and up until something kind of broke. I'm not sure what, but I definitely heard a very loud crack. He got really upset and pulled me to the ground with him. He sort of tackled me and wanted me to try and get up. I knew he was clearly stronger then me when it came to strength, so I caught him off guard and kissed him. He let go of my hands and legs and eventually we were sort of making out. I left because all he said was I had to try and get up, so I did. He didn't look too angry, did he? Well, I hope he's okay, I really don't want to upset him and let him blame himself more for Darwin. He's not doing too well you know, I'm almost positive that he's hiding everything and thinks about it all the time, what do you think?"

She looked at me with all a serious look on her face and said, "You care about him a lot, don't you?"

I nodded and said, "More then I think even I know."

She nodded and said, "I wish I liked some guy with such a passion. I mean Hank is cute and all, but he isn't getting any of my come ons. We've had two dates and nothing except talking has happened. God I wish we could've made out."

I said, "Well when it happens, it happens, I'm actually really afraid I'm rushing things way too much."

She said, "Don't worry about it, I mean if you're in love, why not?"

"Woah, love is a bit much. Strongly like? Adore even, not love, yet."

She gave me that knowing smile she has and started on my toes. She said, "So, what do you think of me kissing Hank first?"

"Go for it, definitely. If its what you want, the worst he can say is no." She nodded and continued. We sat in a comfortable silence as both of us were thinking.

Raven got up on the bed and said, "When its dried, start mine." I laughed and telepathically, got a bright shade of pink open then started on her hands.

She squealed a bit and said, "That's sooo cool. I still wish I could do that. All I can do is change into people." She got kind of a longing look on her face.

I said, "That's awesome and will come in handy. Be proud of it, own it." I had finished very quickly, it must be a record or something.

She looked nervous as she asked, "Can I show you something? Promise you won't judge me." I nodded and said, "Trust me."

Slowly, the blue scales flew over her, but stayed there. Her hair was a gorgeous bright red, her eyes were light yellow, and her skin was the prettiest shade of blue.

She looked worse as my mouth hung open. All I could say was, "Oh my god, you look gorgeous. I wish I had that color hair. Then your skin, its so beautiful. You look stunning."

She had a small smile and said, "Oh you're just saying that."

I looked her dead in the eye and said, "I wouldn't lie about this." She blushed and stayed like that.

For the rest of the day and night, we told each other secrets, did hair, looked at gossip mags, and tried on billions of clothes.

Around midnight, we got into our pajamas and I said, "I'm gonna go back to my room, see ya in the morning."

She nodded tiredly and I hurried to bed. I got under the covers and fell asleep quickly after running over the days events in my mind.

* * *

><p>Around 3 AM, a loud knocking came from the door. Groggily, I put on a bath robe then shuffled downstairs. I opened the door and saw a rather angry looking girl. She couldn't have been more then 16. She had straight brown hair with dark chocolate eyes and a fair complexion.<p>

She said, "I'm looking for Alex Summers."

I stood a little straighter and said, "Who's asking?"

"His sisters." I looked past her and saw an adorable little girl reading a book in the background. She had dark blonde hair and hazel eyes just like her supposed brother.

I asked, "How can I be so sure?"

She nearly pushed me, but just glared and said, "I don't know, just open the damn door!"

I searched her mind quickly and she did appear to be non-hostile, for the most part. I said, "Give me a second." I started going up the stairs towards Charles when the brown-haired one whizzed past me. She opened three doors roughly before finally finding his room. Then, she slammed the door to his room.

I ran in there and saw the girl yelling, "ALEXANDER JAMES SUMMERS, HOW DARE YOU GET OUT OF PRISON AND NOT TELL ME! YOU HAVE TWO LITTLE SISTERS YOU KNOW! Do you honestly think that we would just not visit you at all ever again and forget you exist? NO, it has taken us the past 2 weeks to find you at this god forsaken mansion.. You have some explaining to do."

She had a fire in her eyes when I noticed it wasn't just her eyes, her body had sparks coming off it and her hands were flaming. Obviously, she's a mutant too.

Alex calmly said, "Andy, great to see you again. I'll explain everything, just frickin calm down or you're going to burn the house down." On cue, the little girl skipped in and water came out of her fingertips then hit the older one in the face.

I said, "Okay, what the hell is going on?"

Alex looked at me apoligetically and said, "Lia, meet Andrea and Cassandra, my two sisters."

**A/N: Once again, so sorry about how long it took me, I've had a lot on my plate. Keep the reviews coming! Thanks for everything.**


	8. Welcome to the Mansion

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reviewing (Ginger and FutureOlympian again!) and thanks for reading. Oh and a fair amount of bad language in this chapter, so be warned on that.

Lia's POV

Andrea said, "Oh, what's this one's name? How long have you been with her, a week? If I were you, I'd dump him. HE'S A GOOD FOR NOTHING, SNEAKY, SON A BITCH WHO DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HIS FAMILY!"

At this, Charles stormed in and said, "What is going on?"

Alex said, "Well, these are my sisters Andrea and Cassandra."

Charles looked at the two of them. He said, "I wish you could have warned me earlier about their appearance. Girls, I sense you have abilities, am I wrong?"

Andrea, clearly pissed off beyond all belief said, "What's it to you, old man?"

Cassandra on the other hand said, "Yes we do."

He said, "Well, I'd like to invite you to stay with us then. It's to help train your powers and get them under control. All that I ask, is if you do stay, we keep our voices down at night, understood?"

Andrea said, "No, it's not, my brother is not getting off the hook this time! He went to prison then fucking abandoned us and then got up and fucking left…"

Charles cut her off and said, in a commanding voice, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, or find a room and go to bed."

She glared at him, then poked Alex hard in the chest and said, "This isn't over." She stormed out of the room. Cassandra followed behind her, book still in front of her face.

Charles finished and said, "Now, we can talk about this in the morning, would you two please go to bed." We nodded and I left the room while asking, "Please explain this to me in the morning?"

He nodded, then flung himself back on his bed, and went off to dreamland.

I walked quietly back to my room, tired and longing for a nice warm bed. Once there, I fell asleep almost immediately.

I woke up and got out of bed quickly. I got on black tank top and regular shorts. I continued with the rest of the routine. Afterwards, I raced down the stairs.

Nobody was there, not even Hank. I checked the clock and cursed, "Shit." It was 5:30 and I was still kind of tired. Since I was up, I got some cereal from the pantry, a bowl, and some milk from the fridge.

Quite soon, I finished my bowl and was bored out of my mind. Nobody was awake so it left me with zilch to do. I checked the clock and it was only 5:45. Then, I felt Charles lightly touched my mind. He said, "Alex, Lia, Cassandra, and Andrea downstairs, five minutes." I thought back, "Already there."

He came in the room and said, "Morning Lia, how'd you sleep?" I said, "Okay considering a rampaging 15 year old was banging the walls next to me." He chuckled a bit to himself, then asked, "Have you told anyone?"

I, rather quietly, said, "No one. Well, Alex, but he already knew." I was in a helpful mood and asked, "Want breakfast? I have the sudden urge to cook some eggs." He laughed and said, "Of course, two sunny side up please." I searched for a pan and found one, then some butter, and finally a carton of eggs.

I began making the food when a very groggy Alex walked down. He came up to me and said, "Make me some."

I said, "You're going to have to be less rude then that if you want anything mister."

He groaned and said, grudgingly, "Would you please make me some eggs?"

I laughed and said, "Sure, what kind do you want?"

He said, "Omelet, ham, cheese, and bacon."

I said, "Scrambled eggs it is." He sighed, but was too tired to fight back. The sunny side up eggs were nearly done, when Cassandra came down. I got out a plate and said, "Morning Cassie."

Cassandra slowly lowered her book, then walked toward me. Each step looked carefully placed, she was angry about something. She came over, pulled me down to her level by my shirt collar, and said, very slowly, "Nobody calls me Cassie. Say it again and I will be sure to rip off your head, throw it in the pits of hell, watch the hellhounds devour it, take it back, place it on a stake, then shove it back on your pretty little neck. My name is Cass."

I was in utter shock, but then, she was just such a cute little girl. Though she was nine, she could easily pass for six. I ruffled her hair, and said, "Well someone's not a morning person." So, she was a perfect replica of Alex in girl form.

She tried biting my hand, but I took it away quicker then she could have. Andrea was the last one to come bounding down the stairs, then proceeded to go to her brother and started pounding on his arm. I assumed he could take care of himself, so I watched and laughed. She looked at me with a glare in her eyes and said, "Shut up, you're just another girl he'll be done with soon enough."

Woah, did she just say that. I stomped over to her, ripped her off his arm, and said, "Listen, you don't know a damn thing about me. I suggest you learn about people, before you say nasty things to them. Listen, girlie, I can make you fall in love, I can make you want to kill yourself, I can hit you without touching you, I can pull the trigger on you without lifting a finger. Do NOT mess with me."

She looked taken aback, then acted as if this had never happened and continued to pound on his arm. I couldn't help, but look at her thoughts and she was thinking, "She must really like him, don't screw this one up Alex." I quickly gave the eggs to Charles and started cooking Alex's along with my own.

I said, "So, you wanted us down here for something?"

He said, "Ahh, yes. Cassandra, Andrea, please tell me what your abilities are."

Before they could answer, I said, "Woah, why are we down here? Why am I down here?"

He said, "I'll get to that soon."

Cassie said, "Call me Cass and I can manipulate water."

Andrea said, "I can manipulate fire, but it gets a hair out of control sometimes." All the while, I was cooking the eggs.

Charles said, "Would the two of you care to demonstrate?"

Cass nodded and shot water inside the vase with the wilting flower. I said, "Nice shot." She thanked me and then proceeded to drench my shirt. I glared at her and thought, thank god I didn't pick the white tank top.

Charles said, "Enough with that, Andrea?"

She looked nervously, seemed like it ran in the family to have an aversion to using their powers. Andrea brought up her hand, then snapped and fire was on the tips of her fingers. She snapped once more and it was gone.

Charles said, "Ahh, for testing today, I'm going to use you two."

I butted on, "So what am I here for again?"

He said, "Right, Alex seems to be the focus point for Andrea's anger and something about you seems to cause Cass to be angry. Today, I want to see how far you can push them."

My jaw hung open, he's kidding me right? The little girl was ready to rip my freaking head off. I said, "Okay, do we get any protection?"

He said, "Well, I suppose a fire suit will be necessary and for you, I'd wear a bathing suit."

He laughed and looked at the clock, 6:10 exactly. Hank walked down the stairs and looked at us all then said, "What is going on?"

I shook my head and said, "I'm still not sure, so umm, ask the newbies." He proceeded to introduce himself, while I dragged Alex by the arm outside.

He looked at me, "What do you want?"

I said, "I want to know why your little sisters came here and I mean the whole story mister. I'll give you a minute to think, I'm going to finish the eggs."

I went back inside, got some plates, a glass of water for myself, and put the eggs on the plate. I hurried back to where he was and gave him his food. He dug in rather animal-like and I said, "You tell me the story, go."

He had finished half his plate by the time he started, but it had only been about one minute. He said, "Well, you know how the thing happened with my mom and dad? We had no parental figures and oddly enough, both our parents were only children. Then, once Andy had accidentally gotten rather angry at out grandparents' house, they pretended we didn't exist. I didn't want to get us separated in an orphanage so I took up a job and Cass did lemonade stands all the time. Andy would constantly do car washes with her friends. I take care of them, but once I got sent off to prison, luckily Andy knew what to do. They were allowed to visit me once a month and somehow, they gathered enough money to live. Obviously, they had came for their visit and I wasn't there, so they went looking for me. They can be quite determined, so yeah."

I looked at him and said, "I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say to him. He nodded and finished his plate, I walked back inside to see everyone there.

They had all formed a circle and the two girls were showing off their powers, Cassie hit me with water again, but it was a thicker shoot and I was drenched from head to toe. Andrea then proceeded to "dry" me off and nearly burnt me, but at least my clothes were dry. Everybody laughed, I rolled my eyes and knew I was in for a long morning.

Soon enough, Charles came in and said, "Andrea, I'll be working with you first, somebody get Alex." Sean walked outside and came back a few moments later with Alex in tow. Creepy how he always knew where Alex was. At any rate, those three left the room and Erik came in ordering everyone outside. We did some stretches and began intense training.

I was forced to teach Cassie the ropes, all the more reason for her to hate me. I had accidentally shown her something wrong, so Erik made her do 10 push ups thinking it was her fault. She glared at me.

Finally, after way too many hours of training and at one point, housework, it was lunchtime. I came in to see Andrea looking a bit tired and Alex rather frightened. Lunch was simple, at least for me. I had a salad to get my energy going, I was going to need it soon enough.

Raven said, "So Dre, Cass, where'd you guys come from?"

Andrea said, "Well, we went to solitary confinement for our monthly visit when our brother wasn't there. So we searched for him and finally found him here."

Raven said, "So, Alex is your brother?"

The two of them nodded. Then, Sean asked, "What was all the banging around 3? It sounded like it was coming from Alex's room." He waggled his eyebrows directly at me, so I hit him in the back of the head.

I said, "Andrea found her brother." For everybody, that was enough said. Even though they hadn't seen her anger first hand like I had, they could tell what she was capable of.

A few conversations later and Charles came in. He said, "Lia, Cass, come with me." I knew this was going to be the death of me. Reluctantly, I followed him into a lab. Here, we didn't do anything except Hank took a blood sample and she nearly kicked him.

Once done, the three of us walked toward the pond. Oh god, more water for her to control.

He said, "Now, I know this is a lot to ask, but I think you can do it. Think of every bad thing that has ever happened, everything that's made you angry, and direct it toward, not at, Lia.

Quite quickly, a tsunami appeared behind her. Charles touched my mind and said, "Try blocking the water with a force field. It's a telekinetic thing, it is just compressed air around you, build up your wall."

I tried doing what he asked, quite hard. I tried thinking of the air forming around me and building up. Just then, the tsunami hit breaking point and crashed toward me. I focused on holding it back, but lots of water still got through. I think the main purpose was to make sure she doesn't kill me.

I was soaked, but not in any pain. Then again, I had already been soaked for half of the day today. Cassie was panting and her eyes had an almost demonic glow. Slowly, she let go and she looked like a little girl once again.

Charles said, "Excellent work Cass!" He clapped her on the back and Charles said, "You may go with the rest of the group." I ran off as they walked back to the lab. The rest of us were just up the hill. I sat near Raven and began stretching.

She said, "Damn! That little thing's powerful, but are you okay?"

I quietly said, "As okay as I'll ever be."

She looked at my drenched body and couldn't help, but laugh.

A/N: Short chapter I know, but thank you for reading. My schedule's been busy and I just want this one out so, thanks!


	9. Breakthrough

**A/N: Hey all you crazy people out there! I wanted to say thank you for reading. Please review me with the answer to this question, Who is Havok related to in the series? (I'm looking for a specific answer.) Whoever answers first correctly gets an OC in my story, I'll ask you to PM when it happens. On to the story.**

Lia's POV

We continued training rather boringly. We did biking for forever, then finished with running. It was very boring, but Charles did decide to train Sean. We saw him break glass on a fake window.

We were all heading back to the house when we saw Hank rush out to Charles and Sean. I whispered to Raven, "What does he have in his hands?"

There was a small bundle of something that he showed to Charles. Hurriedly, he started clipping it on to Sean's tracksuit. When Sean finally moved, we found out Sean had wings. Charles then began taking him in the house.

Incredibly interested, I followed them. Quickly, Raven was by my side, I saw Alex in the back talking to Cassie while Andrea was making rather… unpleasant gestures behind him. Erik was taking up the rear.

Eventually, we made our way up to a room where Sean was getting on the window sill. Wait, WHAT?

I hurried over to the next room to see what was going on. Raven, Alex, and I all managed to squeeze our head out the window. Cassie and Andrea were behind us, peering through gaps between us. Charles was saying something to Sean while Hank and Erik were behind them. Sean got in a squatting position on the window sill.

Charles said a few more words, then Sean made a cross sign over himself. He leaped out of it and Charles said, "Don't forget to scream!" Sean weakly yelled, then landed on the hard soil. It looked like he had broken something, or at least bruised.

I watched as Charles and the rest of the group ran over. I decided to test something. I tried levitating my clothing all at once to move my body. I hovered a few inches off the ground. I tried focusing on moving only my body and it worked! I concentrated quite hard and moved down to Sean through the window.

He squinted at me and said, "Are you my guardian angel?" I laughed loudly and smacked him gently.

I said, "It's Lia, freckle face."

"Pretty harsh for a guy who just fell out of a window."

"Oh I'm sure you're fine. At any rate, the rest of them should be over here in three… two… one."

Exactly on cue, Charles came running followed by Andrea, Hank, Erik, Raven, Alex, and Cassie. I was slightly suspicious of how Andrea was first after Charles, but shrugged it off.

Charles looked at me questioningly, but continued over to Sean, "Are you alright?"

He exclaimed, "What do you think? I just jumped off a two story window onto the ground, no I'm not alright."

Charles motioned for Erik to come over and they lifted him onto his feet. They started supporting him, but he let go of them and began walking with only a slight limp.

I was about to say something, when Andrea said, "Are you okay?"

He said, "Well, I could use a little help."

She rushed over and put his arm on her shoulder to help him walk. She seemed awfully "helpful" towards him. I smirked on the inside while I saw Alex getting tense. I walked toward him and said, "It's all right, you're little sister is just growing up. Relax."

He looked hard in to my eyes, then saw I meant well and let the subject drop. We all walked quietly back to the house.

Charles said, "Dinner's ready. Let's all go to the dining hall."

We sat at the huge table that made me feel weird. We were all so far apart when we sat at the table. It was meat or cheese ravioli. I had cheese of course, because cheese ravioli is amazing.

I said, "So Sean, do you think you'll live? Oh and make that 'guardian angel' move again and I will hurt you."

He swallowed deeply, then said, "I'll live as long as you're here."

Since I was next to him, I elbowed him in the ribs. I whispered in his ear, "It already seems like you have an admirer, don't blow it with the only one."

He said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, all the ladies love me, right Raven?"

She laughed and said, "Whatever gets you through the day."

He said, "Well, I'm sure Andrea agrees with me."

I saw a faint tint of pink light up her cheeks, but she dug into her food so no one could see her face. I also saw Alex tense up who was on the other side of me.

I glanced at him and he relaxed a little bit.

Afterwards, everyone began eating and I thought about how I really should tell everyone else my dirty little secret.

I looked at Charles and he smiled a warm smile back while continuing to talk to Erik. He thought to me, "Relax, I know you'll tell them all at the right moment. Do you mind if I tell Raven though? She's a sister to me."

I thought back, "Not at all."

I listened to Cassie go back and forth with Hank about how the atom can or cannot be split, but I got far too confused and stopped trying. She was a smart little thing.

Then, I listened to Andrea beating on Alex again, and Sean and Raven talking about tomorrow's training. All boring to me.

I quickly finished my bowl and took it to the kitchen sink without saying a word. I walked to my room and then sat on my bed for a while. I took this opportunity to scope out the mansion and think.

I thought, 'Well, I was going to tell Raven first, but Charles has that covered. I'm glad that Alex hasn't told anyone, I trust him. He needs to get over his aversion to Andrea dating. Focus, how am I supposed to tell Sean. I don't know if I trust him completely, but he hasn't done anything to show me that I shouldn't. Still, how would I tell him, how would he react? It can't be that bad, can it? I already assumed Charles was going to tell Erik. Would they all look at me differently, just as some lesser version of Charles. Then, there was Hank, he was so sweet, but I hoped he would treat me the same. Huh, take your own advice and relax.'

I looked around me and found myself in a vast library. It was two stories high with windows all along the east wall. I looked through volumes of books when I finally found the fiction section. I picked up the first book I saw called The Comet's Curse. It looked interesting enough, so I took it over to a chair.

I watched the sun sink below the horizon and a great feeling of peace overtook me. Soon enough, the stars were twinkling in the purple sky. I opened the book, excited to start it.

On page 146, I was stopped by Charles coming up to me. I didn't want to put the book down, it was amazing, but I did want to talk to him.

He said, "I always loved that chair, my favorite spot in the entire library, especially at sunset." I looked up and smiled. I said, "The sunsets here are gorgeous. Not as pretty as Arizona though, when I was little, 4 I think, we moved there for 6 years. The two things I remember were nearly dying in the summer because of the heat and the tangerine-rose skies at dusk. It's my favorite aspect of nature."

He sat down in the seat across from me. He said, "Why did you move?"

I looked puzzled then said, "I don't really know, I guess mom got tired of the scenery. She never lost her job or anything. I enjoyed it though. Did you ever move?"

He chuckled and said, "Not much, I was born and raised in Westchester. About 2 years ago Raven and I headed over to England for my studies. Soon enough, we were called back here. So I guess not."

I nodded and said, "Did you ever want to move?"

He looked deep in thought then said, "Well, there's a little part in everyone that wants to see the world I suppose. Not particularly though, I happen to enjoy the green and the ambience of upstate New York."

I then said, "Why do you have an English accent?"

He said, "I was home-schooled and my mother and father were both English. Also, I suppose I picked it up a bit more the past two years. Would you like to go on a walk?"

I put down the book and said, "Yes."

He took me out of the house without saying a word. We walked by the pond and he said, "I hope you know that there's a fight coming."

I nodded and said, "I think I've known it for a while. Dreams in fact, they're rather horrible. Half of them, someone gets seriously, the other half, well, we're captured. There was one I remember rather vividly where Erik made a moving speech, Shaw was dead, and I was knocked unconscious at one point. It's frightening me a bit."

He said, "That could be everyone else's fault. You know how you have to focus during the day to make sure you don't go off exploring people's heads?" I nodded and he said, "Well, at night that breaks down and you read other people thoughts, unintentionally. It could easily affect your dreams. There is a simple solution to this though, build up a barrier around your thought before you go to bed."

I nodded and said, "Thanks." I yawned. We sat in a comfortable silence when fireflies started appearing. The wave of peace washed over me once again. Suddenly, I heard a strangled cry in my head.

Charles must've heard it too because we were both rushing inside. It was Andrea, I located her in the living room and said, "What's wrong?"

She looked at me rather frightened, then I looked in the corner and saw Cassie. She was burnt a little bit.

Against everything I feel toward the little girl, I rushed over and she was nursing a first degree burn. I said, "Are you okay?"

She screamed in my face, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I looked at Charles who was talking to Andrea, trying to calm her down and get her to tell him what happened. I decided if Cassie was going to talk to anyone, it was going to be Alex.

I focused on reading his thoughts, he was thinking, 'What the hell was that sound?' I found him in the game room.

A hair out of breath, I said, "Cassie, hurt, upstairs, now!" He rushed up and I saw Sean throw his cards and drag me up the stairs with him. Raven was nowhere to be found.

I came back to the room and Alex was consoling Cassie as only a big brother can while Andrea was in tears. She was saying, "I-I diddn't meeann too, she was jj-uustt annoying mee soo I llasshed ouutt."

I came over to her and looked her in the eyes. I said, "Drea, it's okay. We know you didn't mean to and so does Cassie. It seems like it's in your families genes to be a bit… explosive. When something really hits an emotion, you can't help, but lose control. We all understand that. Just know that Cassie will be okay. If I were you, I'd go to bed."

She nodded and slowly began to stop crying. I took her hand and guided her to her room. She was like a vulnerable little girl. I opened the door, said, "Night Drea," and closed it. I left and went back to the other room to see what state of havoc everything was in.

I entered and saw Cassie asleep in Alex's arms. I looked at her and felt warm and fuzzy in my stomach. It was at that moment I had the strangest thought. Alex would be an amazing father.

I mentally slapped myself and out loud said, "What?" Sean and Charles looked at me a bit worriedly. I walked back to my room, my thoughts going crazy.

I even heard Charles think, "Lia, are you okay?"

I said, "I will be."

I changed, brushed my teeth, hair, and did everything else. I laid on my bed, but couldn't help that think what I said earlier is true. Why would I think that though? That's completely inappropriate. We are dating for the love of god. Oh and now I'm relating it to myself. UGGHH.

Eventually, I stopped thinking about it and fell asleep.

**Next Day**

I woke up quickly and changed again, this time I was forced to wear my sweats. I put my hair in a super high ponytail. I tied on my sneakers and walked down to the kitchen.

I grabbed an apple and looked at the time, 6:20, Charles should have his daily wake up call right about … n-"Morning guys, wake up, training in 10 minutes."

I said, "Hey Hank, any new progress on my mutation?"

He looked nervously, then said, "umm sorry no, but you should see what I do have, well, you will today. I'm also advancing with Sean's wings."

I saw the pride in his eyes and said, "That's spectacular, but what do you mean I'll see today."

He had a glint in his eyes. He said, "You'll see."

Drea came down the stairs and mumbled a quiet hello. She then ran up to me, hugged me, and went to get her cereal. I stood there confused. She came back and looked as if nothing had ever happened.

Raven and Sean came down talking about something. Finally, Alex came in hand in hand with Cassie. I mentally scolded myself before I thought anything again and Charles, Erik, and Moira walked in. I politely said, "Oh, where have you been Moira?"

She said, "The CIA called me in for something, I'm back now though."

I nodded and everybody began eating.

Charles said, "Today, it's Alex, then Lia in the morning. Then Hank after lunch, okay everyone?"

We all nodded. I noticed Sean limping slightly again and said, "You sure you're okay?"

He nodded and said, "I'm a man, and men don't show pain."

I laughed, along with most everyone else, but Drea. She looked at him while he flexed almost adoringly. I was disgusted with her and myself knowing I had been in that position before.

Charles took Alex the moment he was done eating and we headed outside only a few minutes later. Erik said, "Okay, we're playing dodge ball with only one rule, no outs unless the person stays down. In other words, a death match." He had an evil look on.

He divided it into Hank, Sean, and Drea on one side with Cassie, Raven, and me on the opposite side.

He stood on just behind the line painted on the grass signaling we couldn't cross it.

There were 3 balls total. Erik screamed, "Go!"

Sean, Drea, Cassie and I ran for the balls. Sean, Cassie, and I got them. We set our differences aside. Cassie and I gave each other a look, then chucked the balls at Drea.

They hit her hard, but she grabbed Sean's and threw it at me with a force.

Then, Sean hit one straight towards me, but I remembered something, I was a telekinetic. I lifted all the balls with my head and caused them to repeatedly fling themselves at Drea, Sean, and Hank. Sean started yelling, "Unfair!"

Erik just shrugged and said, "There is no rule against using your powers." He wasn't very subtle.

Cassie sent a water ball toward all of them. They were thoroughly soaked. Just then, Sean screamed and I'm pretty sure I went deaf.

An hour later, the only two people up were Sean and myself, we were fighting to the death. Both of our moves were sluggish, but we kept it up. Only thing is his screams were getting much weaker and my head was getting fuzzy.

I knew that I was going to drop soon, so I went out with a bang. I threw the balls at him with all my force. Unfortunately, he had the same idea and screamed as hard as he could.

I dropped and everything went black.

* * *

><p>I woke up with everyone crowded around me. Raven said, "She's opening her eyes!"<p>

I looked at them all suspiciously then said, "How long was I out?"

Hank said, "For about 5 minutes."

I got up, but had a slight headache. I said, "Well I'm fine then, this is what training is all about, right? Pushing us to our limits?"

Erik said, "Yes, but I'm pretty sure Charles didn't mean making you guys pass out."

I said, "Well, I'm stronger because of it, or however that line is supposed to go."

Erik said, "Well, if she says she's fine. Everyone lap except Lia, relax for a minute." I sat down and levitated a water bottle from the kitchen. I drank half the bottle and felt much better.

A minute later, they all finished. I noticed Charles coming over without Alex. He said, "Lia, we will be needing you know."

I turned around and raised one eyebrow. Hank gave me an all-knowing look as I left and followed Charles. He said, "You're going to help Alex with his training."

I nodded and said, "How?"

He smirked and said, "You'll see." I groaned loudly.

I entered a bunker in the basement and saw Alex sweating with a black mechanical vest over him. He smiled a bit when he saw me. He said, "What's she here for?"

Charles motioned for me to follow him. He told me to stand a few feet over from the x on the floor. I did so. Charles left for a moment and came back with a mannequin. He placed it on the x. Charles stood a few feet over from the mannequin also. Calmly, Charles said, "Alex, I want you to hit the mannequin."

Alex hung his mouth open and said, "No, not while you two are so close." Not to mention, I looked at Charles like he was crazy. I trusted Alex and all, but his powers were uncontrollable at best.

Charles said, "Alex, would I really be putting my daughter in harm's way if I didn't believe you could do this?" I instantly checked that the bunker door was closed when he said this.

Alex said, "No, but what if you're wrong."

He made no response to that, but, "You can do this."

A determined look crossed Alex's face and he said, "Fine, be careful." He looked sincerely at me when he said this.

I nodded and he began building up his power, when suddenly a bright red ray shot out of his chest. I ran a bit to the side, but miraculously, it only hit the mannequin.

The look on his face was enlightening. He looked happier then just about ever. I could imagine, his biggest fear of having his power take control could finally be eliminated. I ran over to him and kissed him hard. He responded, but since we were in front of my dad, he kept it short. He spun me and I laughed.

I said, "That was amazing, guess you won't cause too much Havok now."

He laughed and said, "I hope you know I'm laughing because you're cute, not because that was funny."

I said, "I know." Charles said, "That was spectacular Alex. I'm amazed by how much you've gotten accomplished in the past few days alone. You're on break until lunch."

He walked out happy and I said, "So… for my lesson, do we have to stay in the bunker?"

He laughed and said, "No, we'll be going upstairs, come on." We walked for a while and came into a green house like room.

He said, "I know what you did yesterday, you levitated yourself. In this aspect, I think you have you telekinetic powers under control. This could eventually be put to the test, but I trust you. I need to teach you how to control others, it's the hardest thing for a telepath to do. You need to be able to break down their barriers, hit their core, then manipulate them."

I nodded and said, "I've done it before, Raven let me try on her, and it's how I got the name Charm."

He nodded and said, "I don't expect you to be able to do it to a telepath, but the person is going to be resistant. Stay put, I'm bringing Cassie." I groaned, the little monster already had enough against me.

Within 5 minutes, Cassie was in the room glaring at me. She sat down and said menacingly, "One thing, look over my memories and I kill you."

I said, "I'll try my best not to."

Charles nodded for me to go so I focused on what she was thinking at this moment. 'Ugh, she's so weak, this is never going to work.' I took down her first barrier and saw another up right behind it. Slowly, I began peeling down all these walls. After about the fifth, I felt a burst of emotions, I focused on getting even past this. I got past her anger and saw fear, I tore that down and saw a deep love to her family. Finally, I made it to her core and instructed her to get up, spin around, and then think that she was born with 5 fathers.

I then left her mind and I felt a rush, I wanted to pass out. Charles said, "Fantastic! Now, I know you're probably not feeling up to much, have lunch and relax. Then, it's back to work."

I groaned and left the room with Cassie, though I could tell that she didn't want to be anywhere near me, which is completely understandable.

I made my way down and ate a microwave meal. Everyone looked at me and I said, "I'm fine guys, my head's just a little fuzzy."

They all continued to eat their meals in peace.

The rest of the day went on in a very unclear haze. I made it through, well almost. I fell on the couch after training and fell asleep immediately after.

Sadly though, when I woke up and I was in my own bed. I smiled at the thought of Alex carrying me up the stairs. At least, that's who I assumed it was. It was either him or Erik, they're the only two strong enough.

Oh well, back to bed for me.

**A/N: Hey thanks for reading, quick post so yay for that. Review please!**


	10. Fight to Win

/N: Hey peoples remember, whomever answers Who is Alex Summers related to in the series? First, gets a character! Yay! Thanks for reading

Lia's POV

The rest of the week was average in ordinance with my new lifestyle. Yes, Alex and I kissed once or twice, yes, Cassie pelted me with water, and yes, Raven and Hank are still kind of halfish dating. The only great thing out of this week is that everyone is getting better concerning their powers.

Sean can now fly, his first flight was amazing. Imagine him being pushed off a 300 foot satellite by Erik. Raven has gotten stronger; she never really needed that much help in the first place. Hank has let loose the inner beast within himself and can now run insanely fast. Cassie's streams have gotten more controlled and much more painful. Even Andrea has learned to control her powers so much better, when she lashes out at you, you aren't burned.

The final test of the day was Erik, he overcame what it was he had to and can now move just about anything. He just moved the entire satellite, which is an amazing feat in itself.

Soon after, Moira called him in the room where we all were, the President was about to make his address. Raven, Cassie, Drea, and I were all comfortable on the couch, the big chair was left for Charles, and everyone else was standing. The President came on the news and said that Russia was going to cross the line near Cuba or whatever. Either way, it meant a war was about to start.

Erik said, "If I were you, I'd get a good night's sleep tonight." He then left the room, Charles and Moira followed suit. I looked outside and it was just beginning to get dark, guess we are making our own dinner tonight.

I said, "I'm going to make some rice pilaf, but it serves about 3 people, anybody else?"

Cassie's and Drea's hand shot up. I nodded and began making my way to the kitchen. It looked like Hank was following and I'm glad, I hadn't had the chance to talk to him an awful lot.

I took out the ingredient and began cooking, then said, "So, how'd your training go so far?"

He paused and looked deep in thought. He said, "Fairly well I think, I've progressed quite a bit the past few days. I'm excited about it. Lia, can I ask you a question?"

I said, "You just did, but sure, shoot."

He said, "If your mutation changed your appearance, would you give anything to reverse that?"

I said, "Well, maybe, I can't say what'd I do because I'm not in that situation. Hank, don't let teasing get to you, they just don't realize what an amazing person you are."

He said, "You don't understand."

"You're 100% right when you say that, but if you let me, I could."

"Are you asking to mess in my head?"

"Only to the point where I can empathize with you."

He nodded and braced himself even though I'm told it isn't painful. I scanned through his thoughts and on the forefront was embarrasment and hate. He absolutely hated the way his feet changed him. They would never see him as Hank, only as big foot. It wasn't just Alex either, so many kids had teased him about it his entire life, poor thing.

I tended to be rather emotional when I connected so a tear or two fell down my face. I said, "Yes Hank, I would do whatever I could to change it."

He nodded and walked out while holding some black box that was rectangular shaped. I shrugged it off. The rice pilaf only had to be cooked for 17 minutes by itself anyway. I set a timer and clipped it onto my shirt.

I left the room and saw Sean. I said, "Hey, how soon do you think the war is going to be?"

"I don't know, but it's making me kind of nervous." I nodded in understanding. Concerning Sean, that was about as deep as you were ever going to get.

I ran up to my room, grabbed my book, and ran back to the kitchen. I sat down and started where I had left off.

Just when Triana was finding whom the culprit was, the timer rang. I cursed, "Damn it." I took out the rice pilaf and started scooping it into three bowls. I got three spoons and water glasses for us all, then searched for Cassie and Drea.

Cassie was in her room reading yet another book and Drea was walking around the pond outside, practicing her flames. I yelled to each of them, telepathically, and said get to the tv room.

Soon enough, they came and we all sat on the couch, I gave them their bowls and we ate while watching some stupid cartoon they seemed to enjoy. I felt I was getting closer to them, good.

Cassie started yawning after two hours or so, so I said, "We better go to bed guys."

Drea said, "Okay, just make sure you fall asleep in your room so Alex doesn't have to carry you again missy." I blushed a bit and she laughed.

I said, "You be quiet or I will sick Sean on you, even though you would probably like that just a little too much." I winked at her. We had formed a sister-like relationship the past few days; I was still working on Cassie.

I took all the bowls, utensils, and glasses and said, "Night guys." They called back, "Night Lia."

I washed everything quickly; even I had to admit that I was really tired. I yawned and swung out my arms. They hit something though. I could've sworn I wasn't too close to any walls. Then, I looked back. "Sorry Alex." I smiled a sheepish grin.

He looked back at me and said, "Do you always do that when you yawn?"

"Ninety nine point nine percent of the time, yes, yes I do."

"Watch your arms, Charm."

"Oh so we're going to do this, are we. Well you should've watched where you were going, Havok."

He got in my face like the first time we met. "Really, because it's all your fault."

"Get out of my face."

"Make me."

He kissed me and it was warm and passionate, nothing too long though. We broke apart and I said, "Wow, things have changed in such a short amount of time."

He nodded and I tried to leave, but he was holding me by the waist. "You know, when my sister was saying all those things about how you're just another girl. You're not, you're special. I … l-ike you, I like you a lot."

I said, "I really like you too Alex, see you in the morning." I headed up the stairs and briefly touched his thoughts, and he gave me the look. I put my hands up as if I wasn't guilty and continued my way to my room.

Once there, I changed, then brushed my teeth, hair, blah blah blah, and went to bed. I fell asleep uneasy, wondering what was going to happen.

I came into consiousness and made my way over to the bathroom. While going, I saw Cassie and she said, "I didn't do it." I glared suspiciously at her, and then entered the bathroom. I looked at myself and nearly screamed.

Andrea had decided to draw all over my face with my makeup, lipstick on my cheek, blush on my forehead, concealer on my lips, and eye shadow every where else. I wasn't stupid enough to chase them around the house, so I took it off. I put on my regular makeup and then screamed, "ANDREA, CASSIE, YOU'RE DEAD!"

I took off running and saw they were a step ahead of me. Eventually, we found our way outside and I had a rolling pin and a cheese grater ready to injure them. Charles came outside and said, "Lia, drop it, Now."

Slowly, my anger subsided and I allowed the supplies to drop onto the grass. I then stomped inside and Charles came in after me. He asked, "What did they do?"

I said, "They covered my face in make-up."

He said, "Isn't that the point of make-up?"

"No, they smothered it everywhere. You know, for a professor you're not very smart."

He sighed and said, "It's gone now though."

I groaned and walked back to the bathroom. I sleeked my hair back, then adjusted it into a very high ponytail. I saw Raven coming out of her room and I followed her. One odd thing, she was in her natural form. I asked, "You have any idea where we are going?"

She said, "Not a clue, you?"

"Nope, might as well go to the kitchen. Charles almost always tells us what we're doing in there. By the way, Raven, has Charles told you anything… umm… interesting lately?"

She hugged me and said, "Welcome to the family." I smiled and said, "Nice to know that I have an aunt I can count on."

She smiled and we made our way to the kitchen. Eggs, bacon, and pancakes were out. Charles smiled and said, "Hurry you have about 10 minutes."

We ate quickly and noticed that Moira and Sean were with us, scarfing down their food also. The Summers came down quickly after us and ate at twice the rate all four of us could put together.

Charles came in the room not a moment after we had finished and said, "Follow me."

We were led to Hank's lab. On the door, it had a note that said, "Grab the suits in the box in the back. Meet me in the hangar."

I was a bit suspicious, Hank wasn't usually this mysterious. I grabbed the doorknob and walked inside. I nearly froze in shock from what I saw.

Hank's lab was destroyed; it looked like Riptide had gotten a hold of it. The carefully placed vials full of hazardous chemicals were scattered on the table. The light fixtures we hanging by a wire. The "operating" table was over turned and his beloved microscope was smashed to bits.

Charles looked around, but continued to the back and the rest of us followed. He opened the box slowly as if to build up suspense then bust it open. There were yellow and blue suits. Alex was the first one to speak our thoughts. "Do we have to wear these?"

Charles matter of factly said, "Unless you can withstand great G-Force and have bullet resistant skin, yes you do." I groaned, along with the rest of us.

Then, Raven began distributing the outfits. It's obvious that Cassie's was the smallest, Alex's was the one with the giant circle thing, and Sean's was the one with the wings, but after that it got a bit confusing. Raven, Andrea, and I had about the same build, but we gave the smallest of the three to her, the middle to me, and the largest to Raven. Then, we gave Charles his and Erik's outfit and let them decide on their own.

Once we were all changed, Charles led us to the hangar. We formed a line in front of a magnificent plane. It had the sleekness of a new car and the size of four elephants. Then, we saw Hank walking toward us, but he didn't look like Hank.

Slowly, he got closer and we saw that he was blue and furry. It was insane. He had striking blue hair coming from every angle, except on his face where his eyes had turned yellow and animal like. He seemed awfully on edge about this and said, "It didn't attack the cells, it enhanced them."

Raven looked hard at him and said, "Hank, you are beautiful. This is the way you were meant to be and nothing can change that. You are finally you."

Erik said, "Never looked better." Hank growled and took Erik by the neck, seeming to choke him. He looked in an awful lot of pain and Charles said, "Hank, release." Hank dropped him and Erik said, "I meant it."

Alex said, "Even I have to admit you look pretty badass. I think we have a new name for you, Beast."

We all looked at Hank and nodded, then Hank led us on to the plane. On the way, Cassie said, "I want my codename to be Hurricane, Andy's can be Phoenix." We nodded and then we got situated with 4 seats on either side and Moira and Hank in the front. On the left, it was Charles, Raven, Cassie, and Sean. On the right, it was Erik, Alex, me, and Andrea in order.

Soon, the jet took off roughly and we made our way to Cuba.

We got there in record time and saw American ships on one side with Russian on the other, then, a boat was in the middle moving toward some destination. We curved in and glided overhead. After a minute of tension building, a missile was shot out of the Russian ship and I noticed Charles had his fingers to his temple.

It was coming rather close to us so Hank had to make a very sharp barrel roll. Alex put his hand over my waist and the world began spinning. My head started to throb a little I couldn't tell what was real or not. After what seemed like forever, we got control of the plane again.

Hank said, "A little more warning next time professor."

Charles said, "I'm sorry about that." Then, the missile hit the ship on neither side, which we all knew held the Hellfire Club.

Hank said, "We just lost track of Shaw."

Erik looked determined and said, "Are they on the radar or in the air?"

Moira said, "Nothing, it doesn't look like it."

Hank continued, "Clearly, we don't have sonar."

A look sparked up in Sean's eye and he said, "Yes we do." He began unstrapping from the seat's confines, as did Erik and Charles.

Hank pulled the lever to open the floor and Sean began situating himself over it. The wind whipped all through the plane and Charles grabbed Sean's neck then said, "This is a muscle, you can control it just like the rest of your body. Remember, search for Shaw then get to shore." Sean nodded and looked at Erik then said, "Stay away from me."

He used his hands to cross over his heart, and then jumped into the ocean below. He hit the water and from there, it was up to Charles to read his thoughts. Of course, I decided to listen in.

Sean had found a submarine under water and was going back up for breath. That was all Charles needed and he and Erik each got on a wheel. Then, Hank lowered the wheels too.

I tried watching, but I couldn't see much. What it looked like was Erik got control of the submarine and was lifting it out of the water to my great surprise. Then, Cassie unlatched herself and Alex started screaming at her. She looked at the sub and with her hawk eyes, saw Riptide ready to make his tornados. She tried throwing water onto them, but it only added. Andrea got up and tried attacking him with fire, but the tornado was already set in motion. It was a gigantic mixture of wind, water and fire.

Erik was forced to relinquish control and Cassie and Andrea quickly clipped themselves back in. Hank said, "It's about to get bumpy." He lifted the wheels and I saw a wing get ripped off.

Suddenly, we entered a spiral and Alex once again covered me with his arm. I focused on him, trying to only feel his warm limb and not focus on whatever the hell what was happening this moment. The only thing that could describe this was dizzying.

At one point, the spinning stopped and was replaced with incredibly rough bumping. It felt like I was a football being punted. Then, the jet came to a grinding halt and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in.

It was difficult, but I managed to unstrap myself then my head hit the old ceiling, new floor. I saw Erik slowly lower himself, so he and Charles dropped to the floor slowly. I rushed over and undid Cassie since I was the first one out. Soon, we were all situated and standing up. I looked out the window and saw their submarine crashed also. Riptide, Azazel, and Angel were all standing outside of it, ready to fight. Charles said, "Erik, go do what you have to. Beast, Havok, back him up. Hurricane, Phoenix, stay here no matter what. Mystique, make sure nobody gets through that door. Charm, go help if they need it." I looked out the window and saw Alex shoot Riptide with his energy. They seemed to be doing all right. I decided to go out anyway.

When I came out, I saw Erik entering the sub and Beast, Havok, and Riptide were gone in a flash. I screamed and focused on their thoughts. Then, before I could read anything, I remembered Sean and tried to locate him. I searched for his thoughts and found him near and American ship.

I thought, "Sean, are you okay, talk to me Banshee." He thought back, "I'm fine, just waiting for the right moment to get Angel, if you'd look, you'd see she is trying to get Beast and Havok."

I said, "Okay, just be ready and think loud if you need help." I severed our connection and tried watching what was happening. Ocasionally, I would see of puff of red smoke in the distance. Then, I saw Banshee come out of the water and he and Angel entered in an aerial fight. I felt rather useless.

Out of nowhere, Beast and Azazeal appeared on the beach and they were in an intense brawl. I looked up to the sky again and saw Sean screaming, I could hear it a bit out here.

Azazeal tackled Beast and put his spiked tail to his eye. Then, Shaw came out of the jet and said, "Azazeal, let him go." He then made a tsking noise and Azazeal stopped. Beast punched him in the jaw and he flew backward. Shaw turned back into Raven and I smiled at her. She looked awfully proud of herself.

I returned my gaze to the skies and saw, wait, Sean carrying Alex. Alex let out a whoop of excitement, when I saw Angel not too far behind them. I thought hard to Sean, "Behind you!" By the time he looked, she had blown a hole in his wing. I knew this was the part where I come in and help. I focused on Sean's wings, and then imagined myself holding up that patch. My thoughts went into holding him and Alex up, just enough to get to the shore.

Even with my help, the landing was a little rough nonetheless. I went up to Alex and hugged him. He then screamed, "GET DOWN!" I ducked and him hit Angel in her wings even without his focuser.

I smiled and hugged him again, and then he hugged me back. I went over to Sean and hugged him too; glad they were both in one piece. I said, "Are you guys okay? Sean nodded, as did Alex, slowly, we got up and made our way over to the jet. Andrea and Cassie came out.

Andrea shot flames out of her fingertips and it hit Riptide who we hadn't noticed was coming to get us. I high-fived her and we formed a line.

Then, Shaw's body comes out of the submarine and Charles came out of the jet. Erik then came out and said, "Today is the day of the downfall of Sebastian Shaw. Today begins a new age. One where the superior race of mutants rises. My friends, look to the sea, the Americans and Russians alike are targeting us with their missiles. I can feel their metal guns pointing toward us. Tell me I'm wrong Charles."

Charles lifted his fingers to his head and a shocked look came over his face. He said, "I-I can't."

Erik continued. "Today, they unite against a common force, us. Americans, Soviets, humans. I say we take a stand against them. I say we show them exactly what we can do and that we're not afraid of them. Either fight for the people who fear and hate you or fight for your protection. Brothers and sisters, join me now."

Then, the missiles were shot out of their ships and I stood there helpless. It felt like the world was going to end, so I said, "Alex, I love you." He said, "I love you too." Then, Erik stopped the missiles and I got the idea.

I unwrapped myself from Alex's embrace then focused on pointing the missiles to the water where they won't hurt anyone. Erik stopped the missiles and said, "I'm warning you." Then Charles said, "Show them you're the better man. There are thousands of innocent, honest men on board merely following orders."

Erik said, "I've been under the control of men following orders for too long. … Never again." He continued the missiles forward and I used all my strength to stop them. Erik flicked his hand back and suddenly I went flying. The metal in my outfit pushed me back into a tree and the world went black.

I woke up and saw Alex and Beast rushing over. I must've only been out for a second or two. Then, the Moira started shooting Erik with her gun, of course he deflected it. They scattered themselves, when Charles fell to the ground. I immediatley stood up, with a little help. I screamed, "DAD!"

Everyone stared at me while I attempted to go over there and Erik pushed us all back. He said, "Stay back." Then, he started choking Moira. He said, "It's all your fault."

Charles, quietly, said, "No, it's your fault Erik." Erik dropped her and rushed over to Charles. He laid his head in his lap. Erik said, "Charles join my side. We've always wanted the same thing."

Charles looked in great pain, but still managed to say, "I'm sorry my friend, but we do not want the same thing."

Erik looked in emotional pain, then got up and said, "Join me now." All of the Hellfire Club walked over. Then, Raven started walking. She made her way over to Charles who now had Moira at her side. Charles said, "Go, you belong there." She nodded and he kissed her hand. Raven said, "Take care of him." Moira nodded, then Raven got up and took Erik's hand. We stared in shock at them.

In a puff of smoke, they were gone and we rushed over to Charles. Hank said, "Don't move."

Charles said, "I won't. In fact, I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs."

I saw Hank run into the jet and he grabbed a gurney. Slowly we lifted Charles onto it and called down the helicopter that we hadn't noticed had been there. I took Charles' hand and said, "Dad, I'm so sorry, just be okay. Please be okay." Tears began falling and I begged myself to stop.

He said, "Don't worry Lia, I'll be fine." The helicopter landed and we put Charles on it. I looked at the pilot and saw the man who had the base and the pilot. He said, "We can fit three more in here."

I said, "Andrea, Cassie, and Hank. Go. Sean, Alex, Moira and I will be fine." They nodded and got in. I said, "Hank, make sure nothing happens, please." He nodded and I looked at them as they left.

Moira went back to the jet and tried to contact another vehicle. I sat on the beach in the middle of Alex and Sean. I said, "What an exhausting day."

Sean said, "No kidding."

I kissed Alex and said, "I meant it."

He smiled and said, "So did I."

A/N: Hey, this took forever to write and I don't know why. I hope you guys enjoy, remember the question!


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